As Chelsea were busy on the pitch picking up an important win over West Ham on February 3rd, there were staff working hard off the pitch to finalise many deals on transfer deadline day.
The main purpose of the winter window was to move on a number of players who had become unhappy with the minutes they had been getting at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues signed Mathis Amougou and recalled Trevoh Chalobah; however, they let a number of players leave on loan until at least the end of the season.
One of those who has prospered most since January is Axel Disasi, who made an eleventh-hour move to Aston Villa.
Their manager, Unai Emery, was insistent on signing Disasi, calling him frequently to sell the project at Villa Park to the Frenchman.
The Blues loanee has impressed greatly since making the move to their Premier League rivals, with Villa fans loving Disasi’s impact since joining.
Their good form and recent win over Chelsea have them looking over their shoulder at Villa in the race for a Champions League spot for next season.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 1 | Liverpool | 29 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 69 | 27 | 42 | 70 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 28 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 55 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 45 | 33 | 12 | 51 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 53 | 36 | 17 | 49 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 53 | 38 | 15 | 47 |
| 6 | Brighton | 28 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 46 | 40 | 6 | 46 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 29 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 45 | -4 | 45 |
With him only on loan, there is currently no clarity over where he will be playing his football next season, with him at this stage returning to Stamford Bridge at the end of the campaign.
However, according to Foot Mercato, Villa want to keep Disasi at the end of his loan spell, although he will be rivalled by other Premier League clubs for a potential deal.
Tottenham were keen on a move for Disasi late in the winter transfer window; however, he was already moving to one of Chelsea’s biggest rivals.
Chelsea’s summer centre-back plans
Despite bringing him back in January, Chalobah’s Chelsea prospects are not bright, based on how hard they pushed to permanently sell him last summer.
It has already been reported that Chelsea are prepared to ‘go big’ to strengthen the spine of their squad, with one of the positions they are looking to address being centre-back.
Levi Colwill is seen as a very important part of the project at Stamford Bridge; however, the frequent injuries suffered by Wesley Fofana make it very difficult for the Blues to be able to rely on him in the long term.
