£60m fee talks heat up
Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea: Fee talks heat up
Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea: Chelsea’s pursuit of Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix intensified this weekend. Co-owner Behdad Eghbali and Palace chairman Steve Parish held face-to-face talks at New York’s Aman Hotel on Sunday. Both men were in the city for the 2026 World Cup final. According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea’s current position sits around £55m. They may stretch that to £60m with add-ons, though. Palace aren’t budging without hitting that benchmark. Parish wants maximum return on a player who arrived from Wolfsburg for just £18m in August 2024. That is an extraordinary mark-up in under two years. He knows it, too.
Why the move makes sense right now
Lacroix, 26 years old, completed 28 Premier League starts in 2025/26. He logged 2,486 minutes with one goal, two assists, and 10 clean sheets along the way. His defensive metrics tell a more complete story. We are talking 203 clearances, 50 tackles, and 35 interceptions. His defensive 1v1 rating of 88.38 out of 100 placed him 12th in the entire division for that specific metric. Sky Sports confirmed this week that Palace are asking for more than the £55m Tottenham paid Brighton for Jan Paul van Hecke. That figure has set the floor.
Personal terms with Lacroix are already agreed. The France international earned his first senior caps in 2026 and featured at the World Cup. He wants the move. Chelsea need the body. With Xabi Alonso building a back line around Levi Colwill, Lacroix fits the profile of an aggressive, mobile partner who steps out to engage rather than retreating. Crystal Palace know this. It is why they are holding firm.
The fee dispute explained
TEAMtalk reported negotiations reaching a crucial stage on 19 July. L’Equipe had already suggested a figure close to €55m was effectively agreed weeks ago. Fabrizio Romano flagged in early July that Chelsea’s interest was by far the strongest. Arsenal have yet to make formal contact despite their reported monitoring. Liverpool entered the conversation briefly but cooled, particularly after losing Ibrahima Konaté.
Chelsea have already committed north of £117m this window on Morgan Rogers alone. Adding Lacroix at £60m pushes their total summer outlay beyond £250m. An eye-watering number. Still, it is entirely consistent with what Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have done since 2022. The clubs have a functioning relationship, having previously done business on Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell.
Whether Eghbali and Parish shook hands over anything concrete in New York remains unclear. The direction of travel is obvious, though. The gap between £55m and £60m, even with bonuses, is not the sort of distance that kills a deal at this stage.
Read: Chelsea receive structured £35m bid from Serie A for their defender
Scorzo’s opinion
This one feels close. When two club chairmen fly across the Atlantic, sit down together, and reportedly discuss a specific figure, the bureaucratic part of the deal is nearly done. Palace have every right to ask for £60m. Tripling your money on a centre-back in 23 months is genuinely excellent business. Lacroix’s performances this season justified every penny of it. Chelsea need him more than they are letting on publicly. The defensive options currently at Stamford Bridge simply are not good enough for a Xabi Alonso squad trying to win the title. If Eghbali does not get this over the line within the next 10 days, that would be the bigger surprise.
