West Ham one of three Premier League clubs interested in £38m World Cup finalist (2025)

Graham Potter’s West Ham United are not the only Premier League club to enquire about Chelsea defender Axel Disasi on transfer deadline day.

And it goes without saying, really, that the Frenchman will be allowed to leave Stamford Bridge if the deal is right.

Late last month, Axel Disasi uploaded a rather sorry photo showing himself sitting alongside Armando Broja and Alfie Gilchrist in a cramped, claustrophobia-inducing dressing room. This, he quipped, was what ‘life’ looked like in the Chelsea bomb squad.

Since then, Broja has joined Burnley while Gilchrist moved to West Brom.

Hammers News can confirm that West Ham has emerged as an option for Disasi, too

But West Ham United are just one of three Premier League clubs to enquire about the £38 million former Monaco giant. Chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey explains that, alongside Dutch giants Ajax, there is interest in Disasi from Wolves and Sunderland.

Sunderland and Wolves joined West Ham United in battle for Chelsea’s Axel Disasi

Capped five times by France and a member of the Le Bleus squad which suffered World Cup final heartbreak against Lionel Messi’s Argentina back in 2022, Disasi has not started a Premier League game for Chelsea since a humiliating 2-0 defeat by Ipswich Town ten months ago.

He spent the second half of last season at Aston Villa. But, after struggling to nail down a regular place in Unai Emery’s starting XI, Villa opted against pursuing a permanent transfer.

It is likely that West Ham would only look to sign Disasi on loan themselves, meanwhile.

Bailey says that Wolves and Sunderland are also in the mix. Bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers were breached three times by Everton on Saturday as Vitor Pereira awaits his first win, and his first points, of the new campaign.

Sunderland appear likely to remove their name from the frame imminently, however. The Black Cats are closing in on RB Leipzig powerhouse and former Feyenoord captain Lutsharel Geertruida.

Like Disasi, Geertruida is a centre-half who can also play at right-back.

West Ham linked with Igor Julio, Charlie Cresswell and Braga’s Bright Arrey-Mbi

There is potentially space in Graham Potter’s squad for a last-gasp defensive addition. West Ham sold Nayef Aguerd to Marseille a few hours ago, bringing in a commendable £17.5 million in the process.

Brighton’s Igor Julio is an option to replace Aguerd. Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett claims that, while Igor is undergoing medical tests at Brighton’s bitter rivals Crystal Palace, the Hammers could yet look to hijack the deal.

Disasi is a right-footer, in contrast to the left-sided Igor and Aguerd. But with Potter shifting towards a four-man backline, there may be less pressure to add a left-sided centre-back to the ranks with Max Kilman staying and the manager swapping out a defender for an extra midfielder.

Another name to watch out for on deadline day, meanwhile, is Bright Arrey-Mbi.

A Germany Under-21 international who plays in Portugal with Braga, Sky’s Florian Plettenberg claims that talks have taken place with the Hammers.

Arrey-Mbi, who himself had a spell at Chelsea as a teenager, has a £40 million release clause in his Braga contract. German publication Express, however, report that Braga would probably consider a fee closer to the £10 million mark for a 22-year-old who also represented Bayern Munich and Norwich City at youth level.

Charlie Cresswell of Toulouse has also been linked.