I will turn him into a beast – Pep Guardiola wants £35m Chelsea star to join him at Man city
TBR Football claims that Manchester City was one of the teams in Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday to watch Ian Maatsen of Chelsea.
The left-back for Chelsea, who joined in January, is on loan at Dortmund until the summer. Dortmund is committed to holding onto Ian Maatsen and Jadon Sancho, but they were unable to come up with a viable plan.
Maatsen and Chelsea agreed to a contract extension through 2026, but it also included a release clause of £35 million, which is quite likely to be fulfilled. Dortmund hopes and believes that after seeing Maatsen play so well for them, he will declare his desire to join the team.
However, whilst Dortmund have been delighted with Maatsen’s form – that has inevitably seen him emerge on the radar of other clubs, including Manchester City.
Man City have scouted Chelsea’s Maatsen
TBR understands one of the teams who have been following his progress is City – and they are considering a new left-back this summer and Maatsen is someone they are doing their work on, hence they had scouts at the Signal Iduna Park.
As well as City, Bayern Munich are confirmed admirers of Maatsen – although their interest in him is tied to Real Madrid’s move for Alphonso Davies. Talks over the Canadian have stalled and Madrid could wait until 2025 to land him on a free transfer – meaning Bayern may not have a need for Maatsen this summer.
TBR is also told that Aston Villa were also at the game and they have indeed been making checks on Maatsen in recent weeks as they plan for a likely Champions League campaign next season.
City are also ready to move for Joshua Kimmich this summer, with Bayern’s choice of a new head coach set to be vital in Kimmich’s decision over his future.
Maatsen’s stats vs PSG
The Chelsea loanee has impressed in Germany since his January switch from west London.
Maatsen was struggling for regular minutes under Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea beforehand, managing just one start in the Premier League this season.
The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes last night as Dortmund picked up a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
According to Sofascore, he was Dortmund’s second-highest-rated player on the night, behind star man Sancho.
90 minutes played
4 clearances
2 tackles
5/11 ground duels won
37/41 passes completed
1 key pass
1 big chance created