Chelsea agree deal with Palace for Lacroix

Chelsea have agreed a deal with Crystal Palace for defender Maxence Lacroix; the 26-year-old joined the Eagles from Wolfsburg in 2024, helping them win the FA Cup and UEFA Conference League

>Chelsea have agreed a deal with Crystal Palace to sign Maxence Lacroix.

>The 26-year-old defender has given permission to finalise the transfer for a fee in the region of £51m.

>Sky Sports News understands Chelsea have given Palace the chance to discuss signing one of their defenders available for transfer during talks.

>There has been interest from other clubs in Axel Disasi, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile.

>Palace and Chelsea have a good relationship and they have done deals for players such as Chalobah and Ben Chilwell in the past.

>The Eagles have been concentrating on Augsburg centre-back Chrislain Matsima. However, Sky Sports News understands they are now prepared to walk away from the deal, having become frustrated with the speed of negotiations.

>Palace have been interested in several centre-backs since the January window when Marc Guehi was sold to Manchester City.

>Among those have been Toulouse's Charlie Cresswell, Lyon's Ruben Kluivert and Trabzonspor's Chibuke Nwaiwu, who is also of interest to Fulham.

>Chelsea have not paid a transfer fee for a player aged 26 or over since the summer of 2022 with the ill-fated acquisitions of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly. But Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix is a player worth relaxing the policy for.

>Far from a veteran, Lacroix, 26, is entering his prime after two strong seasons with Palace. Beyond Selhurst Park, perhaps the Frenchman has gone a little under the radar. But, particularly since Marc Guehi's exit, there is growing awareness of his key role.

>Oliver Glasner, who worked with him in both Germany and England, rather summed it up with his own verdict on the player recently. "There is Maxence Lacroix, who came from Wolfsburg, and many asked, 'Why did you sign this player?' I think he stepped up."

>Few defenders boast his skillset. Lacroix ranks among the top five fastest centre-backs in the Premier League since his arrival from Wolfsburg in 2024. That recovery speed helps make him one of the most formidable one-on-one defenders in the competition.

>The numbers back that up. In one-on-one situations, nobody is better than Lacroix at winning the ball back. He is the only player in the Premier League to have faced 50 or more such situations in the past two seasons and won the ball more often than not.

>At 6'4" tall, Lacroix is a robust physical presence who has adapted easily to the demands of the Premier League. He has all the stats to support that, ranking third for clearances and seventh for aerial duels won. But he can do more than defend his box.

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