The defender shone under Vincent Kompany last season in the Championship
Ian Maatsen has taken last season’s form into the summer and is catching the eye of Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The Dutchman won the Championship title with Burnley in 2022/23 and was a regular for the Clarets. He made 42 appearances in all competitions and scored four goals in total. Those performances led to Burnley chasing a permanent move for the player this summer, but a £15million bid was knocked back and Chelsea’s price tag then emerged as £20m.
Left-back competition is rife at Stamford Bridge – where Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Lewis Hall are all vying for a starting spot in Pochettino’s team. But Maatsen has featured heavily in pre-season, with Chelsea heading out to the United States and winning the Premier League Summer Series tournament.
Maatsen has one year left on his contract but has evidently impressed Pochettino to date. The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain chief has utilised him in a more advanced role, with Maatsen operating in behind the striker and also out on the right wing. Left-back remains a position for Burnley to strengthen this summer, but right now Pochettino is enjoying working with 21-year-old and is seemingly in no rush to offload him.
On the Dutchman, Pochettino said: “He has capacity to play in different areas and we can use in different positions. His performance did not change, that is what makes us very pleased. We see him with enormous potential for the club.”
The Blues boss also said earlier this summer: “I am so happy with him. He has quality, he understands the game and is such a clever player. So far he is in my plan, yes. I am so pleased with him… because of his attitude, commitment and his understanding of the game.”
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