Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen is set to join Borussia Dortmund on loan
Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Borussia Dortmund have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign Ian Maatsen on a loan deal, and the club will cover his entire salary.
The left-back will fly on Tuesday to Germany to complete his medical and will start his new endeavours with Dortmund, where he should be guaranteed regular game time. The 21-year-old made only 12 appearances in the Premier League, mainly as a substitute, which raised concern over his development at the club.
The Blues were willing to sell the fullback during the last summer window when they accepted Burnley’s loan bid, but the Dutch players dismissed the chance to move to the Vincent Kompany side.
During the first half of the campaign, Maatsen hasn’t seen regular game time, with Mauricio Pochettino preferring Levi Colwill over him despite Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella being injured.
It makes sense for him to transfer to Dortmund, where he will be able to play for meaningful minutes and advance. Since he is gifted and quick to pick things up, the German League shouldn’t be as testing for him as the Premier League.
Chelsea will be willing to bring him back after the season if he shows tremendous progress at Dortmund, but it will depend on how well he does since they could approve a permanent move to the Bundesliga team.
Maatsen will therefore have the second half of the season to prove his mettle, and he will need to surpass expectations given the fierce competition Chelsea already has at left-back.
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Pochettino will have more alternatives now that Ben Chilwell is back in training, as the left flanker is one of the most creative players in the league. By the end of this term, hopefully, Maatsen won’t let the club down and offer them a cause to keep him for next season.