Chelsea transfer news: £38.9m outcast offered Premier League lifeline as rivals 'confident' of summer deal

Chelsea defender Axel Disasi has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for Leeds United during the summer transfer window.

The 28-year-old was largely frozen out of the Blues squad under Enzo Maresca and did not play a single minute of the 2025-26 season before his January loan move to West Ham United.

Disasi has quickly become a key player for the Irons, playing the full 90 minutes in each of their last 11 Premier League matches as Nuno Espirito Santo's side fight to stave off relegation.

However, West Ham's survival fate is now out of their own hands ahead of Sunday's clash with leaders Arsenal, as the Hammers sit 18th in the Premier League table, one point below Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham do not have an option or obligation to make Disasi's stay permanent, and demotion to the Championship would rule out any chances of the capital club keeping the Frenchman on the books at the London Stadium.

Leeds 'confident' of summer deal for Chelsea's Axel Disasi

Disasi is therefore destined to return to Chelsea this summer, and there is a possibility that he could reignite his Blues career under the new manager during pre-season.

A transfer elsewhere is still seen as the most likely next step for Disasi, though, and according to Football Insider, the former Monaco man could be 'poached' by Leeds.

The Whites were supposedly keen on bringing Disasi to Elland Road in January, only to be pipped to the post by West Ham, but they have not lost sight of the centre-back.

The report adds that Leeds are 'confident' of striking a deal to sign Disasi, who would replace the out-of-favour Sebastiaan Bornauw for the Whites' second consecutive season in the top flight.

Farke's men are yet to secure mathematical survival, but no team has ever been relegated from the Premier League with their current total of 43 points. and they will be safe if they match or better West Ham's result in gameweek 36.

Chelsea paid £38.9m to sign Disasi from Monaco in 2023, since when the Frenchman has scored five goals and provided two assists in 61 appearances for the West London giants.

Which other players could Chelsea sell this summer?

Disasi is not the only French centre-back who could be on the way out of Stamford Bridge, as ex-Monaco teammate Benoit Badiashile is only a bit-part player and could seek more minutes elsewhere.

The Blues do not have as much deadwood to clear out as they did last summer, but fellow loan players Nicolas Jackson, Tyrique George, David Datro Fofana and Marc Guiu should also be on the lookout for new destinations.

Jackson, Datro Fofana and Guiu's exits would pave the way for a new striker signing, and Chelsea are supposedly considering a shock move for a former Premier League forward brutally axed by his current club.