Chelsea are set to lose one of the youngsters during the summer with defender Ian Maatsen eager to secure a permanent move to Borussia Dortmund.
Ian Maatsen failed to secure a place in the Chelsea team and was allowed to join Dortmund on loan in January. He has since become an important player in the Bundesliga side.
He has shone brightly with German club and is on the verge of reaching the Champions League final with them.
Ian Maatsen’s father, Edward Maatsen has now insisted that the 22-year-old appears to have little desire to return to Chelsea.
According to him, Dortmund is the priority but there are “more options” too. He also criticised the downturn in fortunes of Chelsea since the Todd Boehly-led takeover in 2022 and claiming that many decisions “revolve around money” rather than football.
“We are working on staying at [Dortmund]. The clubs have to fight it out among themselves. Ian is developing well here and things are not going well at Chelsea since they changed ownership,” Maatsen Sr. told Dutch publication Voetbal International.
“A lot at that club also revolves around money, which sometimes seems more important than the club’s interests. We have more options besides Chelsea and Dortmund, but Dortmund has proven to be a good restart. And look which guys come from there…[Jude] Bellingham and [Erling] Haaland.”
Since joining Chelsea’s academy from PSV Eindhoven as a 16-year-old, Maatsen has spent time on loan Charlton Athletic, Coventry City and Burnley. He made his Chelsea debut at 2019 but has made only 16 appearances.
