Bid prepared: Chelsea star is Euro giants’ priority, but they’re trying to get his transfer fee down

Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen reportedly remains the priority for Borussia Dortmund in this summer’s transfer window, with the Bundesliga giants preparing to make a bid to sign him permanently.

Maatsen has shone on loan at Dortmund, helping them reach the Champions League final with a surprise run in the competition that saw them knock out big names like Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

The Dutchman could be a superb addition for Dortmund in the long term, even if he struggled to ever really establish himself at Chelsea, and German journalist Patrick Berger has an update on his future in the post below on X, formerly Twitter…

Borussia Dortmund preparing an offer for Ian Maatsen (22/??) who is on loan from FC Chelsea. The Dutchmen is the priority signing for #BVB. He should be the first transfer of the summer.

Advantage #BVB: Maatsen only wants to join Dortmund. Initial talks between the clubs.…

— Patrick Berger (@berger_pj) May 20, 2024

The good news for Dortmund is that Maatsen only wants to join them, so it could make it difficult for the Blues to try auctioning the player out to see if anyone else offers better money.

Maatsen transfer: Would selling him be the right decision for Chelsea?

It remains to be seen how this deal will go down with Chelsea fans, as Maatsen is arguably better than the current options they have at left-back.

Ben Chilwell has been inconsistent and injury prone, while Marc Cucurella, despite some recent improvement in form, has mostly been disappointing since joining from Brighton.

Maatsen has performed well at Dortmund and it’s no surprise they want to keep him, but perhaps CFC should think twice about this and introduce the 22-year-old into their first-team next season.

On the other hand, the west London giants could make a significant profit from letting Maatsen go, so it might be a wise move from a business perspective, allowing them to focus on signings in other areas of their squad that might need strengthening more urgently.

Overall, though, this looks like it’ll be smart business by BVB if they get it done, with the club so often unearthing top young talents on the cheap.