Chelsea transfer FALLS THROUGH after Serie A giants pull out
Tom Weber
- Updated: 7 Aug 2023 13:22 BST
- 4 min read
Signing Axel Disasi leaves Chelsea in an awkward position as Inter move on from Trevoh Chalobah.
Inter have been in the market for a defensive player since the beginning of the transfer window and Chalobah quickly emerged as a target for the Champions League finalists.
Mainly a rotation player at Chelsea, the academy graduate's time at Stamford Bridge appeared to be coming to an end as Inter offered him the tantalising prospect of being a regular starter.
In recent weeks, however, those links have gone cold and Calciomercato now report that the Nerrazzuri have officially moved on from the 24-year-old, for now at least. Inter have other priorities at the moment and this potentially leaves Chelsea in an awkward spot.
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After the signings of Yann Sommer from Bayern Munich and Lazar Samardzic from Udinese, Inter will push hard to strike a deal for a number nine with the club hierarchy keen on Arsenal's Folarin Balogun, while coach Simone Inzaghi wants Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid.
Game time issues at Chelsea
As for Chelsea, the signing of Axel Disasi will potentially make minutes for Chalobah hard to come by. The Blues splashed €45 million on the Monaco star to replace the injured Wesley Fofana despite having four senior centre-backs available.
Given his price and standing in the game - he's a France international who featured at the World Cup - Disasi will expect to play and with no European football this season, spreading minutes around adequately across all of those defenders will prove challenging for Mauricio Pochettino.
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Indeed, as FootballTransfers has previously explained, Disasi is not an upgrade on Chalobah according to data provided by SciSports and the latter's versatility makes him a much more useful asset to have.
This versatility may come in handy, however, given that the 24-year-old has previously featured as a defensive midfielder. He could have a future in that position should Chelsea fail to land Moises Caicedo, but his prospects of playing centre-back don't look promising.
