Chelsea slammed by Premier League star over ‘crazy’ transfer decision

El Hadji Malick Diouf has praised the impact Axel Disasi has made since joining West Ham, claiming it is ‘crazy’ that the defender had not been playing regularly for Chelsea.

Disasi arrived at Chelsea with weighty expectations on his shoulders following a high-profile £38million transfer move from Monaco back in 2023.

But the 27-year-old centre-back struggled to live up to that hefty price tag across a mixed debut season at Stamford Bridge and was sent on loan to Aston Villa midway through the 2024/25 campaign.

After returning to Chelsea, Disasi was effectively frozen out of the first-team squad and therefore failed to make a single appearance in the first half of the season before joining West Ham on loan last month.

The France international has hit the ground running with a string of impressive displays at the heart of Nuno Espirito Santo’s defence, though, losing just one of his opening six matches for the club.

He will no doubt be desperate to continue in the same vein if called upon when the Hammers do battle with Brentford for a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Monday evening.

Having lined up alongside Disasi in all five of his first league appearances for West Ham, Irons left-back Diouf told the club’s official website: ‘The guy is not a small player!

‘He played for Chelsea, so he knows the league.

‘It was crazy he stayed for such a long time and he didn’t play, but when he came here, he showed that he’s a machine!

‘I’m really happy for him. He’s a good defender and I think he helped us a lot.’

The former Monaco and Reims defender still has three-and-a-half years remaining on his current contract with Chelsea.

Whether or not West Ham explore a permanent deal for Disasi will likely depend on their success – or otherwise – in staving off relegation into the Championship at the end of the season.

Serious questions were being asked of Espirito Santo’s position as West Ham went on a miserable run of ten winless games between November and early January.

However, the Hammers’ upturn in form since the turn of the year has given the club fresh hope of survival in the Premier League after what had been a wretched winter period.

A total of four league victories in 2026 means the Irons now sit level on points with Espirito Santo’s former club Nottingham Forest in the table – and a surprise win in their next clash with Manchester City could see them rise to 15th.

After his side’s most recent triumph away to Fulham, Espirito Santo insisted he and the squad remained hopeful of preserving their Premier League status for another season.

‘It’s a special night because we did a good game in a tough, tough stadium against a very good team, with a good manager, fantastic players,’ Espirito Santo told reporters shortly after the final whistle at Craven Cottage.

‘We know how hard it is to come here and to achieve a result. That’s what pleases us the most.

‘We don’t measure belief, we always have belief, we always have hope, what we need is improvement.

‘Today was a big, big day for us, but the situation never changed. Nothing has changed. It required a lot more from all of us.’

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