Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ star reveals the tough life inside the £200m ‘survivor show-like’ dressing room of outcasts where he was struggling and ‘eating poorly’
Axel Disasi has compared being part of Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’ to appearing on a survivor show, as the Frenchman opened up on the impact of being axed from their first team plans.
The centre back was one of several senior players banished from first-team training while their futures were resolved last summer.
Disasi, however, failed to secure a move during the summer transfer window and was briefly reintegrated into first team training under Enzo Maresca last November.
He joined West Ham on loan in the January transfer window, making 15 appearances to date, with the defender credited with helping to improve the Hammers defensive record amid their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Speaking to Canal+, Disasi reflected on being cast out of Chelsea’s first team set-up and seeing other members of the ‘bomb squad’ secure transfers to other clubs.
Disasi revealed he had struggled with being out of the set-up, leaving him without the focus of first team training or matches.
Axel Disasi has compared being in Chelsea’s bomb squad to competing on a survivor show
Disasi had shown the conditions he and fellow bomb squad members were in last summer after being axed from Chelsea’s first team set up
‘It was like a survivor show, someone got kicked out every week,’ Disasi said.
‘Imagine, that locker room at the beginning was huge. Sterling and I were already there, and we stayed. Then there was Lesley Ugochukwu, Joao Felix, Renato Veiga, and [Ben] Chilwell. We trained together.
‘The next day you could come in and say, “Where is he? Ah, he’s found his club. “Ah, he’s at his place, he’s found his club”.
‘Until Raheem and I were left like that. It was just the two of us, we were like that.
‘I remember the first day, I woke up like this: “Well, what do I do today?’ I have no training, no match to prepare for.
‘You start sleeping late, eating a bit poorly, you wander around.’
While part of the bomb squad, Disasi had shared a photo on social media revealing their set-up.
The photo showed a small, bare room with wooden benches, two windows and an air-con unit bolted to the wall, with the players’ name visible on the wall.
Disasi failed to land a summer move but ultimately joined West Ham on loan in January
It was later reported that the Professional Footballers’ Association had contacted Chelsea to ensure Disasi and Sterling – the final two players in the bomb squad – had the chance to train at an optimum level after failing to secure summer moves.
Disasi, who has five caps for France and was part of the squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, had joined Chelsea for £38m in 2023.
He made 61 appearances for the Blues and received a Conference League winners medal last year, having featured regularly in the group stages of the tournament.
Disasi had spent the latter part of the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Aston Villa, with the 28-year-old claiming his father had ‘lost weight’ amid the pressure of pushing through a move to the club.
The defender will still have three years to run on his Chelsea contract when his current loan spell at West Ham ends.
Sterling, who was the other member of the bomb squad to fail to land a move last summer, came to an agreement with Chelsea to terminate his £325,000‑a‑week contract in January.
The former England international later joined Dutch giants Feyenoord on a short-term deal until the end of this season.
