Why Disasi played for Chelsea U21s

- Published
Chelsea defender Axel Disasi's selection for the under-21s on Saturday raised a few eyebrows.
The 27-year-old captained the academy side to a 4-1 win at home to Reading on Saturday in a bid to rebuild his match fitness and put himself in the shop window.
His involvement was seen as a win-win for both parties, with his professionalism behind the scenes in difficult circumstances helping to earn him the chance.
Disasi, a four-time France international who was signed for £38.5m in 2023, is also described as having been a positive example to many of the youth players in and around the fixture.
Is there a way back at Chelsea?

The France international was left out of Chelsea's Premier League squad this season
It is unlikely that there has been a significant change in his position at the club as the Blues remains intent on selling him in January.
Chelsea had lined up Premier League loan moves to West Ham, Sunderland and Bournemouth but they collapsed over Disasi's preference to move overseas without such offers materialising.
Disasi retains hope Chelsea may relax their position and allow him to play for the first team again in the coming weeks.
Their approach has left him stranded, along with winger Raheem Sterling, in Chelsea's so-called bomb squad, training separately from the main first-team group.
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