Man Utd boost as Fabrizio Romano rules Chelsea out of race for prime Ten Hag target, with Boehly focused on ‘different priorities’

Manchester United will be delighted after finding out that Chelsea will not provide them with competition for the signing of Monaco star Axel Disasi, courtesy of an update from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

Disasi is a centre-back who can also play at right-back. He is enjoying a top season in Ligue 1, having played in every single one of Monaco’s league matches and also captained them on several occasions. Despite being a defender, Disasi is a real threat, having notched six goals and four assists from 41 appearances across all competitions.

The Frenchman has been on Monaco’s books since August 2020, when he joined the club in a €13million deal from Stade Reims. But Disasi appears to have outgrown his current side and could secure a major transfer come the summer.

On March 21, French source Foot Mercato revealed Man Utd had held talks with both Monaco and Disasi’s agent about a prospective transfer. It emerged that the Red Devils are ‘strongly interested’ in him, with manager Erik ten Hag a huge fan.

And an update on April 10 revealed that those discussions had gone very well. Man Utd subsequently found out that they will need to put a €50m (£44m) offer on the table to reach an agreement with Monaco.

This fee seems worth it given the fact Disasi is shining in the French top flight and also has experience playing in the Champions League. Plus, he has won three caps for the French national side, despite boss Didier Deschamps having incredibly strong options at centre-half.

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Unfortunately for Man Utd, they are not alone in being impressed by Disasi. On Friday, French outlet Le Parisien detailed Manchester City and Chelsea’s interest in snapping the defender up.

The report suggested that Chelsea were the more likely of those two clubs to submit a proposal for him.

Fabrizio Romano hands Man Utd transfer lift

A twist in the transfer pursuit has now arrived via Romano. On Twitter, he revealed that there are ‘many clubs’ keeping tabs on Disasi ahead of a potential move this summer. He ‘has a chance’ to leave Monaco in order to take a big next step in his career.

But Chelsea are ‘currently not in the race’. Chairman Todd Boehly has ‘different priorities’, and there is ‘nothing concrete’ between Disasi and Chelsea right now.

Ten Hag and Man Utd will be happy that they will not have to fend off Chelsea for one of their main transfer objectives. Boehly has shown in the past two transfer windows that he has huge spending power and this could have seriously troubled Man Utd’s pursuit of Disasi.

The Red Devils are not in the clear just yet, though. They still have rivals City to contend with.

Pep Guardiola is searching for a new centre-back as Aymeric Laporte could leave the Etihad this summer. He wants to play more often and Barcelona are understood to be admirers.

Should Laporte’s City exit go through, then this could set up a bidding war between Man Utd and City for Disasi.

Meanwhile, Man Utd are ‘seriously thinking about’ signing a player with plenty of Champions League experience to replace a current starter, as per a report.