Maxence Lacroix: Chelsea’s Potential Set-Piece Game-Changer
The numbers say one thing. The eye test says another. Fantasy Premier League managers now have to decide whether Maxence Lacroix at £6.0m is worth stepping into premium territory for a Chelsea defence still under construction.
The key? Xabi Alonso.
The new Chelsea head coach will dictate whether Lacroix becomes a cornerstone Fantasy asset or an expensive luxury. At Crystal Palace, the Frenchman operated at the heart of a back three in a 3-4-2-1 system, and that role turned him into one of the most reliable defensive performers in the game.
Last season he delivered 154 points, seventh among all defenders. One goal, two assists, 11 clean sheets and a hefty 40 defensive contribution (DC) points underpinned that total. It wasn’t flashy. It was relentless.
DC monster in a back three
Strip away the price tag for a moment and look at his body of work over the last two seasons.
If the DC metric had existed in 2024/25, Lacroix would have banked 34 DC points, a figure beaten by only four defenders: James Tarkowski, Jan Bednarek, Dean Huijsen and Murillo. He sat level with Wout Faes and Dara O’Shea.
Then came 2025/26, the first official DC season. Lacroix went up another gear, finishing on 40 DC points. Only two defenders – Marcos Senesi (50) and Tarkowski (44) – posted better numbers.
Across both campaigns, only Tarkowski and Lacroix managed to place inside the top five defenders for DC twice. That’s not a hot streak. That’s a profile.
For managers eyeing “set and forget” options at the back, this is exactly the kind of consistency that justifies a premium fee, especially if Alonso leans into a three-man defence at Stamford Bridge, as he did at times with wing-backs at Bayer Leverkusen.
Pre-season will reveal whether that structure returns. If it does, Lacroix’s Fantasy ceiling rises sharply.
Aerial weapon hiding in plain sight
On paper, one goal and two assists in each of his Palace seasons looks modest. It suggests a centre-back who chips in occasionally, nothing more.
The underlying data tells a different story.
Last season, Lacroix produced 15 headed shots from set-pieces and 23 total shots from set-pieces. Both figures ranked inside the top 10 defenders in Fantasy. Those numbers were identical to Arsenal’s Gabriel, who turned similar volume into three goals and five assists.
Go back to 2024/25 and the picture becomes even clearer. No defender in the game had more shots from set-pieces than Lacroix’s 27. Twenty of those were headed efforts, again the highest tally in his position. Only Nikola Milenkovic and Virgil van Dijk matched that 20-headed-shot mark, and they finished with five and three goals respectively.
The conclusion is unavoidable: Lacroix gets into the right areas often enough to threaten far more than his raw goal tally suggests. The finishing variance has favoured others so far. It may not stay that way.
Why Chelsea need him
Chelsea’s own set-piece threat from their centre-backs has been underwhelming.
Last season, only two Chelsea defenders managed more than three headed shots from set-pieces: Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana. Chalobah led the way with 12 total set-piece shots, but even that figure fell well short of Lacroix’s 23 for Palace. Fofana finished with eight.
The rest barely registered in the air. Reece James took 10 shots from set-pieces but none were headers. Malo Gusto had three set-piece shots, Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo offered little aerial volume, and Levi Colwill’s season never really got going, limited to just two league starts.
This is where Lacroix changes the picture.
With Chalobah linked with a move away and Fofana sidelined until September, the Frenchman could walk straight into a back three that includes James and Colwill. The need is obvious: Chelsea lack a dominant, reliable aerial presence at attacking set-plays. Lacroix brings exactly that.
Lacroix v Colwill: same role, different ceiling
Colwill is the cheaper route into the Chelsea backline at £5.0m, and his breakout 2024/25 campaign offers a fairer comparison than last season’s injury-hit year.
In that 2024/25 season, Colwill started 35 matches, delivering 14 shots from set-pieces, nine of them headers. Respectable numbers. Good enough to keep him on the radar.
Lacroix, over the last two seasons, has started 35 matches each time. Across those 70 starts, he averaged 17.5 headed shots from set-pieces per season. Almost double Colwill’s output in his one full campaign as a regular.
It’s the same kind of role, but with far more aerial volume. For Fantasy managers, that gap matters. It’s the difference between hoping for the odd goal and genuinely expecting a handful of big chances across a season.
The Fantasy question: pay up or look down?
Everything circles back to squad structure.
If your plan for 2026/27 is to lock in premium defenders who can be trusted every week and then hunt value in attack, Lacroix fits the profile. Elite DC numbers. Proven durability. A huge set-piece presence that Chelsea have been crying out for.
He is not the only route into this defence. Colwill at £5.0m becomes very attractive if he nails down a regular role, especially if Alonso favours a back four and wants a more traditional centre-back pairing. James at £5.5m will tempt many again, with the hope that a season without European football reduces his injury risk and keeps his minutes stable.
But Lacroix offers something the others do not: a blend of defensive reliability and aerial volume that has already translated into top-tier DC returns in two straight seasons.
If Alonso builds Chelsea around a structured, aggressive back three, the Frenchman won’t just be a new signing. He’ll be the defensive anchor Fantasy managers argue over all summer.
Do you pay the premium now, or watch him climb in price once those first headed chances start flying in?
