Maxence Lacroix: Chelsea's Premium FPL Defender
Xabi Alonso has barely walked through the doors at Cobham and already one question is circling Fantasy Premier League managers: is Maxence Lacroix really worth £6.0m?
The price tag says “premium”. The numbers say he just might be.
From Selhurst lynchpin to Stamford Bridge gamble
For two seasons at Crystal Palace, Lacroix was the calm in the middle of a three-man defence, anchoring a 3-4-2-1 system and quietly stacking up points. Last term he finished on 154, seventh among all defenders, built on a steady mix of one goal, two assists, 11 clean sheets and, crucially, 40 defensive contribution (DC) points.
That last metric is where he separates himself from the crowd.
Had DC existed in 2024/25, Lacroix would have banked 34 DC points, a figure beaten by only four defenders in the league. Across that season he sat alongside Dara O’Shea on 34, just behind the likes of James Tarkowski and Jan Bednarek.
Then came 2025/26, the first official year of DC in Fantasy. Lacroix went up a gear again: 40 DC points, bettered only by Marcos Senesi (50) and Tarkowski (44). Across the last two campaigns, only Tarkowski and Lacroix have managed to land in the top five for DC twice. That is elite consistency in a category tailor-made for defenders who live in the heart of the action.
If Alonso sticks with a back three, Chelsea have signed one of the best DC machines in the game.
Aerial menace hiding in plain sight
On the surface, Lacroix’s attacking returns look modest. One goal and two assists in each of his Palace seasons hardly screams “set-piece monster”.
Look a little deeper and the picture changes.
Last season he produced 15 headed shots from set-pieces and 23 shots from dead-ball situations overall. Both totals ranked inside the top 10 defenders in Fantasy. They also exactly matched Arsenal’s Gabriel, who turned similar volume into three goals and five assists.
Go back another year and the threat becomes even clearer. In 2024/25, no defender in the league had more shots from set-pieces than Lacroix. He took 27, 20 of them headers. Only Nikola Milenkovic and Virgil van Dijk could match that 20-headed-shot mark – and they turned theirs into five and three goals respectively.
The raw materials are all there: timing, movement, and a willingness to attack the ball. What he hasn’t yet had is the finishing return those numbers usually bring.
For Alonso and for Fantasy managers, that smells like upside.
Why Chelsea needed him
Chelsea’s existing centre-backs simply haven’t offered the same kind of set-piece punch.
Last season only two defenders at the club managed more than three headed shots from set-pieces: Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana. Chalobah led the way with 12 total set-piece efforts, Fofana followed with eight. Respectable, but nowhere near Lacroix’s 23 for Palace.
Reece James, by contrast, took 10 shots from set-pieces but none of them were headers, underlining his role as a technician rather than a target. Levi Colwill barely featured in 2025/26, starting just twice.
To get a fair read on Colwill, you have to rewind to his breakout 2024/25 season. In 35 starts he produced 14 shots from set-pieces, nine with his head. Solid numbers, and enough to hint at long-term potential as a threat in the box.
Lacroix, though, has been operating on a different level. He started 35 matches in 2024/25 and another 35 in 2025/26, averaging 17.5 headed shots from set-pieces per season across that stretch. That’s almost double Colwill’s nine in his single full campaign as a regular.
This is why Chelsea moved for him. Chalobah is being linked with a move away. Fofana is out injured until September. The prospect of a back three built around Lacroix, James and Colwill suddenly feels less like an experiment and more like a necessity.
The Alonso question
Alonso’s track record at Bayer Leverkusen points towards systems that can maximise a ball-playing, aggressive back three. He has used wing-backs, he has leaned on centre-backs who can step out and dominate both boxes.
Lacroix fits that template.
Pre-season will reveal whether Alonso commits to a three-man defence or pivots to a back four. That decision will shape Lacroix’s Fantasy value more than any other factor. In a three, he looks tailor-made as a “set and forget” premium: nailed minutes, heavy DC involvement, strong clean-sheet potential and a genuine aerial threat.
In a four, the equation changes slightly. The defensive volume may dip, the DC ceiling might flatten, and the value conversation opens up for cheaper options.
That’s where Colwill comes into focus. At £5.0m, with the potential to reclaim a regular starting role and build on his 2024/25 promise, he becomes the more budget-friendly route into Alonso’s defence, especially if the new manager leans away from a back three.
James, at £5.5m, brings his own familiar caveat. Chelsea’s lack of European football this season could ease the strain on his body and reduce the risk of repeat injuries, but Fantasy managers have been burned before. The upside is obvious. The trust will take longer.
So, is Lacroix worth the premium?
It comes down to strategy. If you want to lock in defensive assets, spend big at the back and chase value in attack, Lacroix has all the right ingredients – provided Alonso gives him the platform of a three-man defence.
He is one of the standout DC performers in the league. He is a major aerial weapon at set-pieces whose underlying data screams that more goals should follow. And he arrives at a club that desperately needed exactly that profile.
The numbers are in place. The role is there for him to claim. Now the only thing left to discover is whether Alonso’s Chelsea become the kind of side you build your Fantasy defence around, or one you simply dip into on the cheap.
