The three Chelsea players Maxence Lacroix spoke to before signing Blues deal

RATE 1-10: Lacroix confirmed, how good is Chelsea’s £52m deal? 🔥

After Morgan Rogers and Marco Palestra, Chelsea have now taken their spending north of £200m aside from the pre-arranged transfers such as Geovany Quenda, Emmanuel Emegha and Dastan Satpayev.

Lacroix fills a void alongside Levi Colwill in Chelsea’s defence. A leaky backline that undermined Chelsea for so long last season, failing to defend from crosses and set-pieces and often making mistakes.

Maxence Lacroix says he spoke to Chelsea trio throughout

Ahead of agreeing a move to Chelsea from Palace this summer, Lacroix says he spoke to three Chelsea players. He spoke to his France World Cup teammate Malo Gusto and two current Blues centre-backs.

Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile also spoke to Lacroix, with Chalobah a former Palace player and Badiashile a fellow countryman. Speaking to Chelsea’s website, he explains how he spoke to the trio.

“It’s the best move for me because it’s the best club in the world. I spoke with Malo, Trev (Chalobah). I spoke with Benoit (Badiashile). It’s easy for people to speak well about this club; it has a lot of history.

“I’m really proud to be a part of it now. I spoke with the manager on the phone. We spoke about tactics; we spoke about how he sees the game. First of all, I was happy just to speak about football with him.

“We have the same direction, desire for this club. When I spoke with the gaffer, with the people I know from the national team who play for Chelsea, like Malo, they told me it was the best club I could go to.”

What Maxence Lacroix promises to bring to Chelsea

Despite Chelsea’s plethora of central defenders, which stood at 10 before Lacroix’s arrival, the Blues have been unable to find a centre-back partnership that can plug the leak. Now, Colwill is back from injury.

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With Lacroix alongside him, the Blues have the perfect combination to give Chelsea the platform to build on. Colwill’s leadership and composure, combined with Lacroix’s “ridiculous” pace, make an ideal duo.

The former Wolfsburg defender is a brilliant signing, and excellent business in this current climate at little over £50m. Next up for Chelsea will be the signings of veterans Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson.