Aston Villa’s new signing Axel Disasi has shared his delight over joining the club on loan, and revealed Unai Emery’s role in convincing him.
The 26-year-old arrived on transfer deadline day and will spend the remainder of this campaign on loan with us, before returning to Chelsea in the summer given there is no option to buy included in the agreement.
READ MORE: Villa confirm crucial late move with loan signing to address glaring issue
After Diego Carlos left last month coupled with the injuries sustained by Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres, Emery has been left short at the back having had to deploy Boubacar Kamara there in our last two games, and so it was imperative that we acted during the January transfer window to strengthen our defensive options.
Although Disasi has much to prove still despite his experience at a high level given he didn’t entirely convince at Chelsea, it’s clear that he was a priority for Emery, who evidently rates him very highly.
Much like he’s done with numerous other players since he was appointed as Villa boss, the Basque coach will look to take the Frenchman to the next level, and that will hopefully result in a more solid defence that starts to keep clean sheets on a more regular basis.
Disasi is delighted to have joined us, and while he insisted he’ll give his all to help us in the next few months, he was particularly complimentary of Emery and Monchi for their respective roles in convincing him to join us.
“My happiness to play, my desire to play and to win,” he told VillaTV. “I’m still young, but I have experience, so I want to bring this.
“I’m just a guy that loves to give everything for the team, and it’s this that I want to bring. I hope we will succeed. I would say I like to be aggressive, I like to be dominant. I like to play with the ball also from the back, and I can score some goals.
“I am very happy to be here.
“He [Emery] played a big part, because he explained (to) me the way that he sees things with me. Obviously, we all know the work that he makes is very great. When I spoke with him, he trusted in me, and straight after I hung up the phone, on my mind it was clear that I wanted to come here.
“He was clear, and he knows what he wants from me. That is very important.
“The way that I was speaking with the coach and the sporting director, they make me feel safe, and the way I was talking with them, it was very clear and very good. They were trusting in me also, so all of this made my decision to come here.
“I know also that the club is very ambitious, and me as well, so I hope that we will do something great. That’s why also I signed here. I’m ambitious as well. I didn’t have a limit, and I just want to go as high as possible.
“I will give everything to put the club there.”
With Mings and Torres expected to be sidelined for a little longer, Disasi could make his debut against Ipswich Town next weekend, as he’s cup-tied for our FA Cup clash with Tottenham on Sunday.
Nevertheless, when that pair do return, he will likely provide competition and cover for Ezri Konsa in the right-sided centre-half role, while also giving Emery the option to shuffle things at the back and play either him or Konsa as a right-back.
That versatility could prove to be useful, but for now, the French international will look to integrate and adapt as quickly as possible, take in as much information as possible in training in the coming days, and he’ll hopefully be more than ready when called upon to play a key role for us between now and May.
