Maxence Lacroix: New Chelsea Signing Ready To Embrace Chelsea Leadership Role | OneFootball

What Maxence Lacroix can expect from Chelsea pre-season under Xabi Alonso. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Maxence Lacroix has finally completed his transfer to Chelsea, and now the defender is ready to be part of the team's leadership group immediately.

Chelsea confirmed the arrival of Lacroix on Thursday, with the club understood to have paid £52 million for the France international.

Lacroix has signed a six-year contract with the Blues, tying him to the club until 2032.

He is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, having played a big part in Crystal Palace’s excellent defensive record last season with 12 clean sheets, the third highest in the competition.

He also helped Crystal Palace win their first-ever major honour and European glory with an FA Cup title in 2024/25 and the UEFA Conference League trophy last season.

However, Chelsea have not just signed a highly-rated defender, but also a leader on the pitch.

Former Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner appointed Lacroix as one of the club’s two vice-captains earlier in January this year.

It did not come as a surprise since Lacroix had already been in a similar role at his previous club Wolfsburg.

The 26-year-old’s personality usually makes him a popular figure among teammates and the fans; this certainly helps as well.

More importantly, Lacroix himself enjoys being a leader.

“I love to defend, of course,” Lacroix told Chelsea’s in-house media team when asked about what he loves about his role on the pitch.

“I think it’s really important for a defender. I love to defend… I love to have this role of leadership. I also like to enjoy (myself) with the fans.”

About the leadership role, he added: “Yeah, I’m really proud of it. Because I think it’s really important for a team and for a defender to be a leader.

“Because we are in the back, and we can see everything on the pitch.

“So it’s really important for us to have this role.”

Chelsea's leadership group

Reece James is currently serving as the captain for Chelsea, with Enzo Fernandez being the primary vice-captain.

Other senior players, such as Tosin Adarabioyo, Moises Caicedo, and Robert Sanchez, are understood to be part of the team’s leadership group, as well as the younger Levi Colwill.

Marc Cucurella was part of the group, too, but his transfer to Real Madrid has now left a space that Lacroix may fill.

This group could get even bigger if Chelsea are to sign Premier League veterans Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson as expected this summer.

Having more leaders in the squad should prove to help the team play more consistently, especially given the number of young players the club have at their disposal.

The most pressing issue to address, however, is the team’s poor disciplinary record on the pitch recently.

Chelsea ended last season with 10 red cards in all competitions, 11 including former head coach Enzo Maresca’s.

It is worth noting that Chelsea also failed to win in seven of the 10 games they had to go down to 10 men last season.

Lacroix himself was shown two yellow cards and one red card last season.

His red card was a result of a foul that was deemed to be a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO), which was quite unfortunate given he also scored in that game.

What Chelsea would want to avoid most is red cards from unnecessary fouls, especially higher up the pitch.