Aston Villa 'reach agreement' to sign Chelsea star - Ornstein

Tom Weber

Updated: 19 Jun 2024 18:38 BST
3 min read

Aston Villa have reached an agreement to sign Ian Maatsen, according to David Ornstein.

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Chelsea had been desperate to offload the player this summer in a bid to raise funds for big-name incomings. Maatsen is coming off a very solid six-month loan spell at Borussia Dortmund and was a man in demand.

Dortmund were naturally keen to keep the 22-year-old around, while the player would have been very open to remaining in Germany, but the Black and Yellow were reluctant to break their transfer record on a left-back.

Enter Aston Villa, who brought up Maatsen's name during talks with Chelsea for Conor Gallagher and Jhon Duran. The Birmingham side are interested in the former, while the Blues have the latter on their striker shortlist. Gallagher, however, has been unwilling to entertain transfer talks while on Euro 2024 duty.

Villa agree deal

This led to Villa focusing on Maatsen instead and, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic, an agreement has now been struck between them and Chelsea for the Dutchman, though he did not mention the name of Duran despite plenty of talk about a swap deal.

The journalist reports that Maatsen's release clause, thought to be in the region of €40 million, has expired and that the two sides have settled on a transfer fee just north of that figure.

Maatsen has agreed personal terms with the Villans on a six-year contract after Unai Emery pushed hard to secure his signature ahead of his club's first-ever Champions League campaign since the competition's rebranding in the early 1990s.

Villa are now working to finalise the deal and we likely haven't heard the last of this transfer given its potential link to the future of Duran. One thing is already clear though: Maatsen will play his football at Villa Park next season.