Todd Boehly accepts mistake as Chelsea willing to take £10m hit on player just two years after signing him

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It’s going to be interesting to see how many individuals go through the exit doors at Chelsea this summer.

If you look at the number of players on the books at Chelsea, it’s quite obvious that they need a mass exodus in the next six weeks. In fairness, the Blues managed to keep the first-team squad to a reasonable size last season by selling or loaning out many people.

Several unwanted Chelsea players are training at Cobham, and the club wants to offload them, while the stars that won the 2025 Club World Cup this summer are on their pre-season break.

• READ MORE: Club World Cup exposes £3.4bn Todd Boehly paradox that directly impacted 20 Chelsea stars in 2024-25

Chelsea willing to take big hit on Axel Disasi as talks begin

If you look back at some of the business from Chelsea when co-owner Todd Boehly was largely pulling the transfer strings, there is a real mixture of hits and misses. Unfortunately, Axel Disasi definitely falls into the latter.

The Blues paid around £40m (Daily Mail) to sign the French defender from Monaco in 2023. Now, Chelsea are expected to sell Disasi this summer amid interest from Newcastle United and Villarreal.

According to CaughtOffside, Newcastle have now started ‘initial talks’ about signing Disasi in this transfer window.

It is explained that Eddie Howe’s side lead the race for the 27-year-old Blues defender, who can cover at centre-half or right-back.

The report adds that Chelsea are asking for around €35m (£30m) for Disasi, but it’s believed that Newcastle might be able to negotiate that down to more like €30m (£26m). Therefore, the Blues could accept a £10m hit on someone they signed just two years ago.

It’s felt like the writing has been on the wall for Disasi’s Chelsea career ever since they loaned him out to Aston Villa in January. While he’s definitely got the ability to perform well in the Premier League, particularly as a central defender, he slipped down the pecking order under Blues head coach Enzo Maresca.

The Chelsea defence in the 2025/26 season

With Disasi tipped to leave, it will be interesting to see what Chelsea’s centre-back options look like next term.

The Blues finished last season with Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah as the main centre-halves competing with each other to start. On top of that, Chelsea have Wesley Fofana coming back from injury, plus Mamadou Sarr has arrived from Strasbourg.

Reports claim that Chelsea could sign another central defender as they discuss their next plans in the transfer market.

Unless a top centre-back becomes available, you could make a strong argument to say it’s a position they should leave alone for now.