Serie A giants plotting January swoop for 26-year-old Chelsea star: Reports
Serie A giants Napoli are reportedly plotting a January swoop for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi. As claimed by Area Napoli via The Hard Tackle, Antonio Conte is eager to sign the Frenchman on a loan deal.
Conte has enjoyed a solid start to his stint at Napoli since taking charge of the club in the summer. They sit one point clear at the top of the Serie A table with 26 points from 12 games. The next four sides - Atalanta, Fiorentina, Inter Milan, and Lazio all have 25 points. Juventus find themselves in the sixth place but trail Napoli by just two points.
It has been claimed that Conte is looking to strengthen his side's title bid with some reinforcements in January. He is reportedly looking to raid former employers Chelsea with a loan move for Axel Disasi.
Disasi joined the Blues in a reported £38.5 million deal from AS Monaco in the summer of 2023. However, he has not quite been able to establish himself as a regular starter at Stamford Bridge.
The 26-year-old has made nine appearances across competitions for Enzo Maresca's side this season. However, he has only started one Premier League game while coming on as a substitute on another occasion.
Blessed with a frame of 6ft 3in, Disasi is excellent in the air and boasts an imposing physique. The Chelsea centre-back is technically sound and can also play as a right-back.
Rio Ferdinand claims Chelsea star gets unfairly criticized
Pundit Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson comes under unfair criticism from the media. The former Manchester United and England defender insisted that the Senegal international's hard work is noticed by many.
While talking to Blues boss Enzo Maresca on TNT Sports, Ferdinand said:
“I think he’s (Jackson) been unfairly criticised at times in the media by different people and different publications."
Marecsa hailed Jackson's influence and replied:
"First of all, he's helping us a lot in the way we want to play because he is dropping, he is linking, and he is doing fantastic that. And everyone probably at the beginning, no one expected this from Nico. And he's doing he's doing very well then in terms of numbers - he is scoring goals [and] assisting. Since the start, we want to press - go man to man – it's always aggressive, it's always there. He doing fantastic."
Jackson has scored six goals and provided three assists in 12 appearances for Chelsea this season. In total, he has amassed 23 goals and nine assists in 56 games for the Blues to date.
