Arsenal previously held an interest in Chelsea-bound Axel Disasi, but they weren’t willing to meet Monaco’s demands, according to a report.

On Sunday afternoon, David Ornstein reported that Chelsea had reached an agreement in principle to sign Axel Disasi from AS Monaco.

Chelsea are set to pay €45m (£38.6m) for the defender, as they scramble to replace the injured Wesley Fofana.

But according to Nizaar Kinsella, other Premier League clubs were also interested in the signing.

Kinsella claims both Manchester United and Arsenal were looking at Disasi before Chelsea came in, but Arsenal were reluctant to pay the asking price.

With Chelsea paying the same fee for Disasi as Arsenal paid for Timber (and that’s after including Timber’s add-ons), you can see why the Gunners would have had reservations at that price.

Disasi is still relatively young for a defender, at 25, but he’s received more mixed reviews with his current club than Timber, who was the Eredivisie Player of the Year at Ajax in 2021/22.

Arsenal have long been linked with Disasi, with multiple reports suggesting the possibility of a £15m deal in 2020.

But those rumours never materialised into anything, and the player’s price has more than doubled since then.

Chelsea were desperate enough to take the risk at that price, but Arsenal will feel more than happy with the business they’ve done, especially with how well Timber appears to be adapting to life in his new shirt.