Aston Villa are reportedly set to agree on personal terms with Ian Maatsen by the end of this week to seal his signing in a £37.5m deal.
The 22-year-old impressed last season after joining Borussia Dortmund on loan in January, scoring three goals and providing two assists in 23 appearances for the Bundesliga giants to go with his defensive duties.
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After initially arriving at Chelsea in 2018 to join their youth set-up, the Dutchman has been loaned out to various clubs in the past six years, but it now looks as though he’ll start the next chapter of his promising career as a Villa player.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa are set to agree on personal terms with Maatsen by the end of this week as he’s tipped to pen a six-year contract with us, while a fee of £37.5m has already been agreed between the two clubs.
That’s a hefty fee for a young player with plenty to prove still, but ultimately it appears as though both Unai Emery and the Villa recruitment team are all convinced that he can provide a long-term solution at left-back for us.
Maatsen certainly seems to fit the profile of what Emery wants in that role and as a key piece in his team given his speed, athleticism and technical ability in addition to his defensive qualities, and coupled with his age and room for development, it could be a great piece of business in both the short and long run.
However, it will raise question marks over how our situation at left-back will play out this summer, as the Dutch defender joins a Villa squad that already has Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno in it.
The expectation, and the sensible decision, would be to move one of them on in order to help balance our books by offloading their wages and receive a transfer fee as well as making room for Maatsen to compete for a starting berth, and so it remains to be seen who Emery is more open to moving on, and if a suitable offer arrives for their services.
It’s one of many intriguing and exciting reshuffles for this Villa squad this summer it seems, with Douglas Luiz and Tim Iroegbunam being heavily linked with exits this month, thus paving the way for Emery to rebuild his midfield ahead of next season too.
