Hammers try Axel grease to fix defensive malfunctions

West Ham certainly left it late on deadline day to loan 27-year-old Axel Disasi from Chelsea, relying on a deal sheet with the transfer not being confirmed until after 9pm. Still, at least the fax machine must have been working. Disasi was in the Chelsea "bomb squad" (where he might have met Danny Welbeck's dad, Stan) so could have been signed much earlier, which indicates he wasn't the club's first option and took some persuading to join. 

He's the first West Ham player to be called Axel, and not to be confused with Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose, who at 63 might be a little old for defensive duties. His full name is pretty impressive, being Axel Wilson Arthur Disasi Mhankinis Belho.

Axel is undoubtedly a good defender who cost Chelsea £38 million. He had a good career in France at Reims and Monaco (99 games) before signing for Chelsea. In his first season of 2023-24 he scored on his debut against Liverpool and played 44 times under Mauricio Pochetinno, including playing 120 minutes in the Carabao Cup Final defeat to Liverpool. He also got on late for France in their World Cup Final defeat to Argentina at the 2024 Qatar World Cup. So after the departure of Guido Rodriguez West Ham again have a World Cup winner on the books.

He played 17 times for Chelsea last season before falling victim to Chelsea's bloated squad system and being loaned to Aston Villa, where he played ten times including three times in the Champions League. Unai Emery doesn't sign too many duds.

The big worry though is that he hasn't played at all this season so how long will it take him to get match fit? It seems unlikely that he will play at Burnley but might get a run-out at Burton. Though a half-fit Disasi might be more effective than Max Kilman and the Greek Bloke after Saturday's collapse at Chelsea.

So a mixed transfer window ends. Castellanos and Pablo arrived for £47m to provide some pressing up front and made an immediate difference to the side's energy, while Traore isn't too much of a gamble at an initial £1m. Lamadrid is one for the future. The squad has been trimmed with Paqueta (little choice but to sell here), Rodriguez, Irvine and Guilherme leaving (we did well to get £14m) and Ward-Prowse, Fullkrug, Earthy and Marshall being loaned out. But with the worst defence in the league we've only signed Disasi for the back line. Whether this proves successful will be known in May.