Aston Villa complete £37.5m Ian Maatsen transfer as Chelsea sell Champions League finalist

5 months ago 45

ASTON VILLA have completed the signing of Ian Maatsen from Chelsea.

Unai Emery’s side agreed to pay the Blues a whopping £37.5million for the left-back and it is understood he has penned a six-year deal.

The Villans announced the news on Friday night[/caption]

Maatsen, 22, joined the Chelsea academy from PSV in 2018.

He made his debut in September 2019 but was shipped out on loans to Charlton, Coventry and Burnley.

Maatsen – who is preparing for the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 last-16 clash with Romania on Tuesday – played 15 times under Mauricio Pochettino last season.

However, the Dutchman was allowed to spend the second half of the 2023-24 campaign with Borussia Dortmund.

And he even started the Champions League final as the Bundesliga giants lost 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley.

Maatsen ended up playing seven times in the competition, even scoring in the quarter-final victory over Atletico Madrid.

His performances for Dortmund even earned him a spot in the Champions League team of the season while Edin Terzic labelled him the best left-back in the Bundesliga.

The German side were keen to sign him on a permanent deal.

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But Dortmund, now managed by Nuri Sahin, could not afford the £37m fee and reluctantly had to stand back and watch Villa snap up the highly-rated defender – so his arrival will be seen as a coup for Emery and his transfer guru Monchi.

After his heroics last term, now Maatsen can prepare for another season in the Champions League – this time with his new side Villa.

Emery led the Villans to a shock fourth-placed finish last term, beating Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester United to a place in Europe’s elite competition.

Villa have already signed young winger Lewis Dobbin from Everton for around £10m.

Egyptian teenage winger Omar Khedr will join officially on July 1 while 19-year-old centre-back Ethan Amundsen-Day has signed for the academy.

Emery also revealed a deal is agreed to bring Cameron Archer back to Villa Park, just a year after leaving the club for one season with relegated Sheffield United.