Coventry City’s Frank Lampard to raid Chelsea? Transfer for £39m man makes so much sense | OneFootball

Coventry City should raid Chelsea for West Ham United loanee centre-back Axel Disasi this summer.

It has been a historic season for Coventry City as they end their hiatus from the top-flight of English football as Championship champions, under the management of Frank Lampard.

Lampard took charge of the Sky Blues mid-way through last season and led them to the play-off semi-finals but, with not much business done last summer, especially outside of the defence, Coventry have gone a few steps better.

Rampant in the first-half of the campaign, a mid-season blip saw Middlesbrough topple them at the top-of-the-table but a 3-1 defeat of the Smoggies in mid-February saw them regain control and push clear.

City gained promotion with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers last week before clinching the title in style as they hammered Portsmouth by five goals to one at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Now, as they look ahead to the summer, decisions have to be made on the level of spending that Coventry require to be competitive in the top-flight – and where their squad needs improvement the most.

There are already plenty of links, such as Gustavo Hamer potentially returning to the club, but one man that they should be looking at is centre-back Axel Disasi.

Axel Disasi would be a realistic coup for Coventry

Axel Disasi, having come through the academy at Paris FC before establishing himself at Stade de Reims and Monaco, earned a £39 million move to Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

The Frenchman put in some strong performances at the start of his Chelsea career but a poor second-half of the 2023/24 campaign saw him move to the periphery of things at a chaotically run club.

He spent the second-half of last season out on loan at Aston Villa before making a move to West Ham United for the second-half of this season, helping to transform the Hammers.

Seemingly dead and buried in the relegation battle in January, Disasi has been a key cog for Nuno Espirito Santo’s improved Irons as they now sit just outside of the bottom three and the relegation places in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old has added a level of maturity to the West Ham back-line, proving an obdurate companion to the in-form Konstantinos Mavropanos and putting in displays more reminiscent of his time in Ligue 1.

No player has made more defensive contributions per 90 than Disasi in a West Ham shirt this season, averaging 13.7 per game with the next best being Soungoutou Magassa with 11.7.

Coventry.

Coventry will likely seek defensive reinforcements this summer

The limited business that Coventry did conduct last summer was focused on defensive areas of the pitch with the four signings that they made being goalkeeper Carl Rushworth on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, as well as full-back duo Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Miguel Angel Brau before the very late addition of Luke Woolfenden.

Coventry had chased Woolfenden for a while as they became desperate to bolster their central defensive options and the Sky Blues eventually forked out £4 million for the Ipswich Town academy graduate.

Woolfenden, alongside Joel Latibeaudiere, has provided cover for key men Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching and there will surely be a desire to further reinforce that defence.

Woolfenden is one of just three players with Premier League experience in the Coventry squad and so that will be something that is of paramount importance to find, while the sheer depth and quality of their back-line also needs work.

Disasi, versatile in both a back three or with the flat back four, has endured criticism for his ability to play out from the back but as an out and out defender, primarily focusing on that with West Ham, can thrive.