Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen will undergo a medical with Borussia Dortmund on WEDNESDAY
- However, the 21-year-old extends his contract with Chelsea until 2027
- SAMI MOKBEL: Arsenal need a world-class striker and they MUST do well… but it seems impossible this month – It all starts
Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen flew to Germany on Tuesday evening before completing his move to Borussia Dortmund.
The Bundesliga side will pay a loan fee of £2 million and Maatsen must undergo a medical on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old left-back has extended his contract with Chelsea until 2027 to put the club in a stronger negotiating position over a permanent sale in the summer. However, the new contract would also contain an escape clause.
While the Blues will be happy to give Maatsen – who has made 12 Premier League appearances – some regular game time, they will first have to manage their current loan players, as per FIFA rules.
Under the rules, clubs are only allowed to loan out seven players internationally at a time to avoid building up talent pools.
Dortmund and Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement on a loan deal for Ian Maatsen
However, Mauricio Pochettino’s team will have to cancel one of the seven foreign loan players
Chelsea have currently loaned seven players to foreign clubs prior to Maatsen’s move. That means they will have to cancel one of their existing loans before the full-back can leave.
Current tenants include Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Angelo, Hakim Ziyech, David Fofana, Gabriel Slonina and Diego Moriera.
The most likely of those to have his loan terminated is winger Ziyech, with Galatasaray ready to cut ties with the player just five months after his arrival in the Turkish Super Lig.
He made 14 appearances in all competitions, with two more goals in the Champions League, but was ‘ineffective’ and could not ‘perform as expected’, the Turkish newspaper said. NTV Spor.
And amid the player’s continued struggle to stay fit this season – after missing nine games through injury following problems with his foot and hamstring, Galatasaray are now said to be ready to end his loan deal and send him back to Chelsea.
The Blues also recently opted to recall Andrey Santos from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
Santos joined the Blues from Brazilian side Vasco de Gama in January 2023 for £18million before joining Forest on loan last summer.