Chelsea extend contract of 21-year-old defender prior to his loan move to Germany
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has exclusively revealed that Chelsea have extended the contract of 21-year-old defender Ian Maatsen ahead of his loan move to Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund are closing in on signing Maatsen on loan for the rest of the season. Romano has also confirmed that the player’s new contract at the club will have an unspecified release clause that comes into effect next summer.
Whilst on one hand, it makes you think that the Blues have a long-term vision for Ian Maatsen, on the other hand, it feels like all the Blues have done is secure themselves a sale value. The presence of a release clause makes us wonder.
Considering the number of injuries that Chelsea have had so far this season, Maatsen was well within his rights to expect to have been given a chance by Mauricio Pochettino. The former Spurs manager doesn’t seem to rate him though.
However, there is a feeling that Chelsea don’t want to take the chance of missing out on a prospect who has immense talent and can develop into one of the best in his position. They would want to see how the player progressed at Borussia Dortmund.
To give himself some flexibility, Maatsen might have negotiated a release clause into his contract. If he feels things won’t change at Chelsea, the player has some kind of freedom in deciding his own future.
The whole Maatsen situation though raises a much large-scale concern. Do Chelsea value their academy products enough, like some other clubs in the world do? We’ve seen this with Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori. More recently, we are seeing it with Conor Gallagher and Ian Maatsen.
What’s the point of having one of the best academies in the world when there is a reluctance to trust its graduates. More importantly, why aren’t we able to hold on to our academy products?
Chelsea are on a spending spree in the transfer market but maybe, it’s time to take a step back and look at the academy once in a while. Let’s wait and see how Maatsen’s career pans out going forward.
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