Maxence Lacroix: Key Defender in Chelsea’s FPL Strategy
Xabi Alonso’s arrival at Chelsea has already shifted the mood at Stamford Bridge. For Fantasy Premier League managers, it could also redraw the defensive landscape. At the centre of that change sits Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m) – a premium-priced defender whose value will hinge almost entirely on how Alonso sets his team up.
If Chelsea go to a back three, Lacroix suddenly looks like a very serious investment. If they don’t, £6.0m becomes a much tougher sell.
From Palace lynchpin to Chelsea cornerstone?
Lacroix arrives in west London off the back of two quietly outstanding seasons at Crystal Palace. Stationed in the middle of a back three in a 3-4-2-1, the Frenchman built his Fantasy reputation not on headline-grabbing goals, but on reliability and volume.
Last season he delivered 154 points, seventh among all defenders. The raw numbers are solid enough: one goal, two assists, 11 clean sheets. The real story, though, lies in his defensive contribution (DC) output.
Across 2025/26 he collected 40 DC points, a total bettered by only two defenders – Marcos Senesi and James Tarkowski (both £6.0m), who finished with 50 and 44. Stretch the sample back another year and his consistency becomes even clearer. Had the DC metric existed in 2024/25, Lacroix would have earned 34 points, placing him joint-fifth among defenders.
Across the last two seasons, only Tarkowski and Lacroix have managed to sit inside the top five for DC twice. That is elite territory for a centre-back who rarely leaves the pitch.
DC monster in a three-man defence
The DC metric rewards players who pile up the unseen work: blocks, clearances, recoveries, key defensive actions. It’s tailor-made for someone like Lacroix in a three-man defence, where he can dominate his zone and stay on the pitch for 90 minutes almost every week.
In 2024/25 he started 35 matches and would have posted 34 DC points. In 2025/26 he started 36 and produced 38 DC points in reality. That level of repeatability is gold for managers who want a “set and forget” option in defence.
If Alonso leans on the back-three blueprint he used at Bayer Leverkusen, Lacroix looks perfectly built to anchor it. Chelsea’s pre-season friendlies will be crucial in confirming whether that’s the plan – but the numbers say that if the system fits, the points will follow.
Set-piece menace hiding in plain sight
Look at Lacroix’s attacking returns – one goal and two assists in each of his two Palace seasons – and he doesn’t immediately scream goal threat. The underlying data tells a very different story.
Last season he produced 15 headed shots from set-pieces and 23 shots from set-pieces in total. Both figures ranked among the top 10 defenders in Fantasy. They were also identical to Arsenal’s Gabriel (£8.0m), who turned similar volume into three goals and five assists.
Go back to 2024/25 and the picture becomes even stronger. No defender had more shots from set-pieces than Lacroix’s 27. No defender had more headed efforts either: 20, a figure matched only by Nikola Milenkovic (£5.5m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m). Milenkovic scored five times that year, Van Dijk three. Lacroix had the chances to be in that bracket; the finishing and variance simply didn’t follow.
Across those two campaigns, his set-piece profile is clear:
- 2024/25: 27 shots from set-pieces, 20 of them headers
- 2025/26: 23 shots from set-pieces, 15 of them headers
Those are centre-forward numbers in the air, delivered from centre-back. Put better delivery and more territorial dominance around him, and the ceiling rises quickly.
Why Chelsea need exactly this profile
Chelsea’s defenders have not exactly terrified opponents from dead balls. Last season, only Trevoh Chalobah (£5.5m) and Wesley Fofana (£5.0m) managed more than three headed shots from set-pieces in the league.
Chalobah finished with nine headed efforts and 12 set-piece shots overall from 31 starts. Fofana, limited by minutes, had six headed attempts and eight shots from set-plays in 20 starts. Useful, but not dominant.
Beyond them, the cupboard was almost bare. Reece James (£5.5m) recorded 10 shots from set-pieces, but none were headers. Malo Gusto, Tosin Adarabioyo and others barely registered in the air.
Lacroix changes that picture immediately. His 23 set-piece shots last season were almost double Chalobah’s total, and his headed volume dwarfs anything Chelsea have been able to put on the pitch consistently. He doesn’t just add height; he adds a proven track record of getting on the end of deliveries.
With Chalobah linked with a move away and Fofana out injured until September, the path is clear for Lacroix to walk straight into a starting role. A back three of Lacroix, James and Levi Colwill (£5.0m) is an obvious early blueprint.
Colwill vs Lacroix: value or volume?
Colwill will be the natural alternative for managers reluctant to pay £6.0m. When he finally got a run of games in 2024/25, he showed his own aerial promise: 14 shots from set-pieces in 35 starts, nine of them headers.
Stack that against Lacroix over the last two seasons and the gap is stark. Lacroix has averaged 17.5 headed shots from set-pieces per campaign across 35 starts in 2024/25 and 35 again in 2025/26. Colwill hit nine headed efforts in his single full season as a regular.
The comparison over their last two years reads:
- Lacroix 2024/25: 27 set-piece shots, 20 headers (35 starts)
- Lacroix 2025/26: 23 set-piece shots, 15 headers (35 starts)
- Colwill 2024/25: 14 set-piece shots, 9 headers (35 starts)
- Colwill 2025/26: 0 from 2 starts
Colwill offers value and a route into the Chelsea defence at £5.0m, especially if Alonso prefers a back four and wants a left-sided ball-player. Lacroix offers something else: relentless involvement, DC reliability and a far greater likelihood of racking up headed chances in the box.
The Alonso question – and your budget
Everything circles back to Alonso. His Leverkusen side often used wing-backs and a back three, a shape that would suit Lacroix perfectly. If he replicates that at Chelsea, the Frenchman becomes one of the most attractive premium defenders in the game: DC magnet, aerial weapon, 90-minute mainstay.
If Alonso goes with a back four, the conversation shifts. Lacroix would still be a strong DC option, but the premium tag bites harder, and Colwill at £5.0m suddenly looks a lot more tempting. The same goes for James, whose attacking upside remains huge if he can stay fit – and Chelsea’s lack of European football this season might help reduce the physical load on both James and Colwill after their injury issues.
For Fantasy managers, the decision is simple in theory, awkward in practice. How much are you willing to invest at the back in 2026/27? If you want a “set and forget” defender who can quietly build a 150-plus season on clean sheets, DC and set-piece volume, Lacroix fits the brief – provided Alonso gives him the right platform.
The numbers say he’s ready. The system will decide whether he becomes a luxury or a necessity.
