One club may not be able to sign Ian Maatsen from Chelsea this summer.
Ian Maatsen is currently on loan at Borussia Dortmund where he is thriving, so it would not be a surprise to see teams register an interest in the left-back.
In fact, according to journalist Florian Plettenberg, Dortmund’s rivals Bayern Munich have identified Maatsen as a potential replacement for Alphonso Davies.
The Bundesliga champions could be forced to sell Davies at the end of the season with his contract set to expire next year.
Chelsea are one club who are thought to be interested in Davies. So it could be one left-back in and one left-back out, with Maatsen possibly heading in the other direction.
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Borussia Dortmund will find it difficult to sign Ian Maatsen permanently
While Maatsen may be at Dortmund now and enjoying himself, it looks like the German club may struggle to buy him outright.
According to journalist Patrick Berger, “it will be difficult” for Dortmund to pay the £35m needed to land the 22-year-old this summer.
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Maatsen refused to rule out the possibility of remaining with Edin Terzic’s side, which is no surprise given how well he is doing with them.
In 10 league appearances, the Chelsea loanee has scored one goal and provided two assists.
However, it looks like Dortmund may not actually be in a position to spend £35m on Maatsen.
Ian Maatsen’s height an issue for Mauricio Pochettino?
For whatever reason, Mauricio Pochettino just did not trust Maatsen enough to start him at left-back while he was still at Stamford Bridge.
Maatsen stands at just 5 ft 6; maybe the Argentine was concerned about his height.
Central defender Levi Colwill has been Chelsea’s first-choice left-back for most of the season, suggesting that Pochettino may indeed be worried about his side aerially, something Maatsen would not have helped with.
Chelsea’s loss is Dortmund’s gain, though. They must be delighted with their acquisition of the Netherlands U21 international, even if they do have him for just half a season.
