Bruno Fernandes, when handed the captain’s armband at Manchester United for the very first time, could not hide his pride at being bestowed such an ‘honour’.
The likes of Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane all used that very same word when asked to lead the Red Devils out onto the pitch themselves at various points in their Old Trafford careers.
But, while Axel Disasi was delighted to be handed the armband for the first time in Chelsea blue back in September, in hindsight him captaining the side during an EFL Cup tie with fourth-tier Barrow was maybe something of a backhanded compliment.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, after all, has used the cup competitions largely as a way to rest his usual starters. Joining Disasi on the team sheet during that 5-0 hammering of Barrow was, to name but a few, the seldom-seen Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Cesare Casadei and Filip Jorgensen.
Disasi could have joined Manchester United rather than Chelsea back in 2023, of course.
As Fabrizio Romano said at the time, Erik ten Hag had ‘approved’ the move, with the Old Trafford bosses holding talks before his eventual £38 million switch to Stamford Bridge.
A year-and-a-half later, with Disasi now proving to be little more than a highly-expensive reserve in Maresca’s plans, it is difficult to see that aborted switch to Manchester United as anything less than a bullet smoothly dodged.
- READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
Manchester United will be glad they didn’t sign Chelsea’s Axel Disasi
A horrific own goal during Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Leicester City last season looks likely to be the abiding memory of Axel Disasi’s ill-fated stay in the English capital.
Especially with reports this week suggesting that Chelsea will not stand in the Frenchman’s way should offers arrive during the January transfer window.
And in Chelsea’s first meeting with Leicester since Disasi shanked the ball into his own net from around 30 yards out six months earlier – when Maresca was standing in the opposition dugout – the 26-year-old was nowhere to be seen on his manager’s team sheet.
Then again, this is hardly a new development.
Disasi has been left out of the matchday squad now for four successive Premier League games. In fact, he’s started only once in the top-flight throughout 2024/25. Of his nine appearances under Maresca, six have come against Barrow, Gent, FC Noah, Panathinaikos and Servette [twice].
And, on the rare occasion in which Disasi was trusted by Maresca to start against an opposition of much higher quality, he repaid his manager’s faith with another calamitous own goal in a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle United.
Leny Yoro return boosts Man United’s impressive defensive options
Now, Old Trafford has seen plenty of defensive blunders too in recent years.
But with Leny Yoro available to Man United for the first time, with Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt and a rejuvenated Harry Maguire also at Ruben Amorim’s disposal, the Red Devils can boast arguably their most impressive collection of centre-halves since maybe the end of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Axel Disasi – or Axel Disaster, as some have taken to calling him – may have felt like an opportunity squandered when those talks with Man United ran aground back in 2023.
But, clearly now out of Enzo Maresca’s plans and destined to suffer the same fate as Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku and co, this is one transfer the Red Devils will be glad to have stayed away from.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
