Chelsea continue to raid the transfer market. Today the target of choice is Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m), who has moved from Crystal Palace for £52m.
In this Moving Target piece, we take a look at what the Frenchman will bring to the Blues’ defence and decide whether he is worth including in our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) teams.
- READ MORE: Best £4.5m defenders for FPL 2026/27
FPL CAREER SO FAR
Lacroix enjoyed a standout 2025/26, where he was a mainstay of the Eagles’ resolute defence.
Only Arsenal and Manchester City kept more clean sheets than Palace last season, and Lacroix was present for 11 of those shut-outs.
While other defenders such as Daniel Munoz (£5.5m) appealed for their offensive capabilities, Lacroix was more of a dependable, no-frills sort.
Nonetheless, the former Sochaux and Wolfsburg centre-back steadily climbed the charts throughout the course of the season – his second in the Premier League – until he finished with 154 points. That tally made him comfortably Palace’s highest-scoring player and the eighth-best defender in the game:
Lacroix does not offer much in the way of attacking threat. Indeed, his one goal, pair of assists and 11 clean sheets were identical figures to those he achieved in his first season at Selhurst Park, when he conceded two fewer goals.
The underlying numbers hinted at more (Lacroix ranked joint-sixth among defenders for set-piece attempts, with 23), but without many actual attacking returns, how come the Frenchman fared so well last season?
The answer is quite simply: defensive contributions (DefCon). The introduction of DefCon points transformed Lacroix from no-nonsense stopper into bargain defender. It turns out that centre-backs who can head it, kick it and block it are worth their weight in Fantasy gold, even if they don’t score or set up too many goals.
During the 2025/26 Premier League campaign, Lacroix was the only player to record at least 50 tackles (60), win 200 duels (204) and make 250 clearances (252). Those stats contributed to the Frenchman’s 370 defensive contributions, which converted into 40 DefCon points – the exact number of points by which he surpassed his FPL total from the previous campaign.
Above: Defenders sorted by DefCon points (DC) in 2025/26
Throw in the 11 clean sheets and 11 bonus points that were top 10 totals among defenders for those categories, and it is no great surprise that Chelsea should be interested in signing a centre-back of Lacroix’s calibre.
The Frenchman’s displays earned him a call up to an exceptional France World Cup squad, and he played in both the semi-final defeat by Spain – after William Saliba (£6.0m) came off injured – and the wild 6-4 loss to England.
FPL PROSPECTS
Chelsea’s defence did not pull up any trees last season. Only six teams collected fewer clean sheets than their nine, while only eight conceded fewer goals (51).
In mitigation, Chelsea were beset by injuries at the back with Levi Colwill (£5.0m) out for virtually the entire campaign and Reece James (£5.5m) and Trevoh Chalobah (£5.5m) plagued by various issues. Indeed, the Blues had the fourth-most injuries of any team in the division.
The arrival of Xavi Alonso as head coach is an intriguing development. The Spaniard achieved his greatest managerial success at Bayer Leverkusen, who won the league without losing a match playing a 3-box-3 formation based on a high-press, long-passing sequences and dynamic full-backs.
Lacroix potentially could slot in as one of the three Chelsea centre-backs, then, although Alonso has used a back four in pre-season so far. Hopefully the upcoming friendlies will give us further clues about his intentions for 2026/27.
Under Alonso, Chelsea will aim to suffocate opponents with a possession-based game along similar lines to Pep Guardiola’s Man City. Lacroix will be relied upon to help win back possession – a skill at which he has excelled in the Premier League. He is the only player in the Premier League to have faced 50 one-on-one situations against opponents in the past two seasons and won the ball more often than not.
| Player | Club | One-on-one defensive duel success rate (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Maxence Lacroix | Crystal Palace | 50.5 |
| Toti Gomes | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 50.0 |
| Nordi Mukiele | Sunderland | 49.3 |
| Calvin Bassey | Fulham | 48.8 |
If Xavi-ball proves to be a success, then Lacroix should pick up his fair share of clean sheets. Leverkusen conceded only 29 goals when they won the league in that remarkable 2023/24 campaign – 15 fewer than the next-best team.
Chelsea will certainly be better at the back with the arrival of Lacroix, but will Lacroix be a better FPL asset for departing Palace?
Much will depend on his DefCon output, which could be boosted if Alonso uses a three-man defence. That said, he likely won’t have as much defensive work to do at Chelsea, in a team which enjoys greater possession and defends higher up the pitch. The best policy is to keep a keen eye on Chelsea’s pre-season friendlies to see how things shape up.
This is particularly relevant in the case of Lacroix, who will be afforded a longer summer break, having stayed at the World Cup for the entire duration of the tournament.
As for the fixtures, Gameweek 1 is away at local rivals Fulham, though subsequent meetings with Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal don’t look particularly clean sheet friendly. The outlook improves from Gameweek 4:
So, the first three Gameweeks could be a nice little audition period for this run. Lacroix is consequently worth keeping an eye on.
However, a Chelsea defender probably isn’t a priority from the off, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool options offering more appeal.
Crucially, Lacroix’s DefCon output will also need to stay high for him to be a viable Fantasy option, as all other Chelsea defenders, including James and Colwill, are cheaper.
