Chelsea have completed the signing of Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace in a deal worth £51m.
The 26-year-old central defender has signed a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Palace were seeking around £55m in negotiations, given the fee Tottenham paid for Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton.
Sky Sports News understands Chelsea gave 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.
Why Chelsea wanted to sign Lacroix
Sky Sports‘ Adam Bate:
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 to. 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 6ft 4in, 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.
Read more here:
Chelsea’s key summer business so far
In
Maxence Lacroix – Crystal Palace, £51m
Morgan Rogers – Aston Villa, £117m
Geovany Quenda – Sporting, £43.5m
Marco Palestra – Atalanta, £43m
Denner – Corinthians, £8.7m
Dastan Satpaev – Kairat Almaty, £2.1m
Emmanuel Emegha – Strasbourg, undisclosed
Out
Marc Cucurella – Real Madrid, £51.8m
Andrey Santos – Man Utd, £50m
Tyrique George – Everton, £24m
Jimmy-Jay Morgan – West Brom, £4m
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