The 2023/24 Premier League season has been another one to forget for Chelsea fans, and it has only just crossed the halfway point.
The massive spending in the summer and the appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has done little to improve upon the poor performances of last year and if anything, the side look worse.
Aside from Cole Palmer and potentially Đorđe Petrović, it would be hard to describe any of the summer signings as successes, and with the January window now open and Benfica's Antonio Silva heavily touted for a move to Stamford Bridge, Axel Disasi could be about to lose his place in the starting XI – if not the entire club
Chelsea transfer news – Antonio Silva
According to Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via Sport Witness), Chelsea are incredibly interested in Benfica's promising young centre-back Silva and have even made an offer in the region of €60m, which is about £52m.
However, the Portuguese giants swiftly rejected the proposal, and as such, the Blues have reportedly 'found the door firmly closed on them'.
That said, while the report is clear that the Eagles do not want to sell their star defender midway through the season, there is said to be a €100m – £86m – release clause in his contract, which the club have 'pointed to' as Chelsea and Manchester United have persisted in their interest.
It is going to take a serious effort from Todd Boehly and Co to get this deal over the line this month without paying for the full release clause.
Still, based on Chelsea's actions in the market in past years, they might just be able to get it done – to the detriment of current starter Disasi.
Axel Disasi could lose his place in the team to Antonio Silva
The 25-year-old Frenchman only joined the Blues in the summer from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco, but he has already become one of the first names on the team sheet for Pochettino, starting 90% of Chelsea's Premier League games and 100% of cup games.
Yet, despite his seeming importance to the manager's set-up, he has not been all that impressive. In fact, he has been poor for much of the season, with talkSPORT pundit Andy Jacobs labelling him a "disaster" earlier in the season and former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand claiming that he wouldn't play him next season on his podcast, FIVE.
Now, players can often struggle in their first season in the Premier League, and so perhaps next year, when he has had time to acclimatise to the league, he'll be far more impressive and be able to justify his place in the XI, although at a team like Chelsea, in the state that they are in, he might not get that chance, especially if Silva comes in.
That said, how do the pair's underlying numbers compare? Is there a significant difference between them, or is this a classic case of the grass always being greener on the other side?
Unfortunately for Disasi, there is a difference and a marked one at that.
The Portuguese "smooth operator", as U23 scout Antonio Mango dubbed him, comes out on top in every critical metric and by quite some way in a few of them.
Stats per 90
Silva
Disasi
Progressive Passes
4.47
4.12
Progressive Carries
1.07
1.02
Passing Accuracy
92.5%
89.7%
Shot-Creating Actions
0.87
0.45
Tackles Won
1.80
0.68
Blocks
2.07
0.79
Interceptions
0.60
0.56
Clearances
3.47
3.28
Aerial Duels Wn
2.37
2.13
All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Domestic Season
He wins far more tackles, makes more blocks, interceptions and clearances, wins more aerial duels than Disasi, and he's also more of a goal threat as he produces more shot-creating actions and progressive passes per 90 than the Frenchman.
Ultimately, this would be an expensive deal to complete, and while it could be seen as harsh on the former Monaco man, if Chelsea have the chance to sign a player Mango described as being "born to play football", then they must take it.
