After an impressive loan spell at Dortmund, Ian Maatsen has officially joined Aston Villa for a fee of £37.5 million from Chelsea.
Several Borussia Dortmund players stood out when the Black and Gold team unexpectedly reached the 2023/24 Champions League final. Mats Hummels is solid defensively while Jadon Sancho is the difference maker in attack. However, no one attracts attention like Ian Maatsen, the Dutch defender loaned by Chelsea in Germany.
Maatsen has now completed his transfer to Aston Villa under a 6-year contract, for a fee of 37.5 million pounds. This is a valuable addition to coach Unai Emery’s team.
Aston Villa finished in the top four of the Premier League last season and qualified for this season’s Champions League, but the full-back position is a relative weakness in their squad. On the right, Matty Cash is vulnerable defensively and lacks the attacking ability of others in the position, while Lucas Digne on the left is not always mobile.
Maatsen is a clear upgrade on Digne at left-back. At the same time, the 22-year-old comfortably drifts into the center of midfield, as he did for Dortmund in the second half of last season. This is a factor that can help Aston Villa gain better control of the ball in the highest level of European football in the 2024/25 season.
Digne passes the ball better than Maatsen, but Maatsen is more daring when moving forward, making moves to penetrate the opponent’s penalty area . This was a characteristic of Borussia Dortmund’s playing style when they reached the Champions League final and only lost to Real Madrid at Wembley. That will also be the highlight of Villa’s playing style next season. Of course, it is impossible to ignore the quality defensive ability of the player who once locked down the two detonators on PSG’s right side, Dembele and Hakimi.
Villa Park have made great progress under Emery and can now consider themselves one of the strongest teams in the Premier League at the moment. Accordingly, Emery needs more quality in his squad to be able to compete on four fronts. The Spaniard will have to rely to some extent on Maatsen to achieve his goals.
For now, signing the 22-year-old is a smart move, as well as a stepping stone for the rest of the 2024 summer transfer window at Aston Villa. With a clear strategy, it would be no surprise if Villa were successful with Maatsen and would leave Chelsea regretting not knowing how to exploit the Dutch international’s talent, only to have to watch him shine for a rival team.
