Crystal Palace are closing in on a deal to sign Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea. Standard Sport understands that the defender will undergo a medical with Crystal Palace on Friday ahead of joining on a season-long deal.
Disasi's journey from Chelsea to Palace
Chelsea have been keen to ship out Disasi this summer. Disasi impressed on loan at West Ham in the second half of last season, despite their eventual relegation, and had no shortage of suitors this summer as a result.
In January, he had also rejected a number of possible avenues out of Stamford Bridge — where he was part of the so-called 'bomb squad' — before opting to join the Hammers.
Palace's defensive needs
West Ham explored a permanent deal for Disasi this summer but are set to miss out to their London rivals, who are heading into their first campaign under new manager Pierre Sage.
Disasi's arrival will help provide cover at centre-back for Palace, who earlier this summer sold central defender Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea for a fee of £52million.
Sage on centre-back search
Sage was on Thursday asked whether Palace would target a centre-back before the window closes. He replied: "Yes. We need a player in this department, a player with a lot of games, if possible, in the Premier League."
"We need players, but we need a leader and that's why we need to wait a little bit to find a good one."
Quizzed on whether that player could be Disasi, Sage said: "He's a player from Chelsea. It is difficult for me to speak about a player of another club, but I hear the same noise as you."
