{"id":15606,"date":"2026-07-09T01:59:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T01:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15606"},"modified":"2026-07-09T01:59:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T01:59:34","slug":"chelsea-transfer-news-blues-want-to-sign-this-52m-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=15606","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea transfer news: Blues want to sign this \u00a352m defender"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n\t\t\t<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chelsea transfer news: Chelsea alter tactical focus to stabilise fragile backline<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chelsea transfer news: Chelsea have finally blinked. After a chaotic campaign that saw their defence shredded by quick counter-attacks and undone by constant injuries, the decision-makers at Stamford Bridge are shifting their transfer strategy. No more hoarding raw, unproven attacking projects. The focus now is entirely on fixing a backline that leaked goals at an alarming rate last term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a fresh update from The Athletic, recruitment staff in West London have identified Crystal Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix as their primary target. They want him through the door immediately. It is an obvious reaction to a season where inconsistent partnerships left the side totally exposed. They need an athletic profile. Someone who can swallow up large spaces behind a high defensive line and win physical duels against the Premier League\u2019s most brutal centre-forwards.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Palace demand a steep fee for the prized asset<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting him out of Selhurst Park won\u2019t be cheap. Palace know exactly what they have in the 26-year-old French defender. He is completely top-flight ready, having clocked up 3,087 minutes across 35 Premier League appearances last season, picking up FA Cup and UEFA Conference League medals along the way. A solid 7.04 FotMob rating tells its own story. He has even broken into the senior French squad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reports from talkSPORT suggest Chelsea are already looking at creative ways to lower the cash price. They might offer Trevoh Chalobah or Axel Disasi in a swap deal. The Sun has also chimed in to confirm these player-plus-cash discussions are brewing behind the scenes. Formal talks haven\u2019t actually opened yet, but Palace\u2019s high valuation means the Blues must get comfortable with a steep fee if they want their man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simultaneously, the club are keeping an eye on long-term backup options further afield. Yahoo Sports has linked Como\u2019s 21-year-old defender Jacobo Ramon to the club. Real Madrid still hold a hefty 50 per cent sell-on clause for the young Spaniard, who made 32 Serie A appearances last year following his \u20ac2.5 million move to Italy. Ramon is a developmental prospect. He is a project for tomorrow, not the instant fix required today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hierarchy cannot afford to overpay for potential right now. A settled, rapid backline offers far more value to this squad than another flashy forward.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<!-- Article End --><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-author\">\n<div class=\"c-author__avatar\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aacadf3e95bfb01ce13b429dee6bd0a5e90e6507900d73b4a9224a6381a644be?s=75&amp;d=mm&amp;r=g\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"c-author__thumb\" alt=\"Photo of Rohit Sarkar\"\/>\n    <\/div>\n<h3 class=\"c-author__name\">Rohit Sarkar<\/h3>\n<div class=\"c-author__bio\">\n<p>Rohit Sarkar is a passionate writer with a deep love for multiple sports, but his favourites are football and cricket. Since 2017, he has been covering football and cricket news with a keen eye for detail and compelling storytelling. He is a fan of the beautiful game and a specialist\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- \/\/c-author --><\/p>\n<p> <!-- \/\/c-share --><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t    <!-- Begin Tabola Creative --><\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea transfer news: Chelsea alter tactical focus to stabilise fragile backline Chelsea transfer news: Chelsea&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}