AS Roma interested in potential January move for ostracised Chelsea defender
In this story:
AS Roma are interested in out-of-favour Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi, who is among the few players the London club could offload in January, according to reports.
Despite his surprise presence in Chelsea's first-team training during the November international break, Disasi remains out of the picture competitively.
Disasi has featured twice for Chelsea's academy side, against Reading Under-21s and Paris Saint-Germain Under-23s, and captained the team on both occasions.
However, it seemed more of an effort to keep him fit ahead of the January transfer window rather than a step to rejoin the first team.
Axel Disasi & Liam Delap #CFC pic.twitter.com/ZIVkOaFH6l
— CFC Pics (@Mohxmmad) November 13, 2025
"Axel is helping the second team, he's helping the younger players," Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said about Disasi in November.
"During the international break, we had just five, six players here, so we needed some second team players.
"And Axel was part of some session with second team players, but I think it was just one session with us."
Disasi may not have to wait too long before finding a new destination, as French outlet RMC Sport claims that Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini is keen on bringing him to Italy.
It remains unclear, however, if Chelsea would be interested in Roma's plans to sign him on a short-term loan deal.
The 27-year-old is under contract at Chelsea until 2029, so the club should have the leeway to send him on loan, but they would certainly prefer to offload him permanently.
That said, Chelsea may not have many options, given that they failed to secure a deal for Disasi last summer.
The FIFA regulations on player loan that limit clubs to six international loans for non-local trained players over the age of 21 would also be an issue.
Chelsea currently have all six available loan slots filled, including for Nicolas Jackson (Bayern Munich) and David Datro Fofana (Fatih Karagumruk).
An overseas loan move, therefore, seems unlikely to be on the cards for Disasi.
A report from BBC Sport mentions that Disasi also has interest from AC Milan and his former club Monaco.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.