Aston Villa have been busy over the past few weeks as the club looks to bolster its ranks ahead of a huge 2024/25 campaign.
The Villans finished fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League, and they’ll need to strengthen to ensure they can handle the extra workload.
Villa are reportedly in talks with Juventus over a potential cash-plus-player deal involving Douglas Luiz.
Discussions have also been taking place with Chelsea over an incoming and an outgoing for each side.
Now, Fabrizio Romano has provided some updates involving a Blues player who has been heavily linked with a switch to Villa.
Aston Villa closing in on Ian Maatsen signing from Chelsea
The player in question is Ian Maatsen, who is on Chelsea’s books but was on loan at Borussia Dortmund in the second half of last season.
Romano, taking to X on Wednesday evening, said Aston Villa are confident to get a deal done for the 22-year-old Dutchman.
The Villans hope to conclude the final details of the deal by the end of this week, with Chelsea already having given the green light.
Romano also claimed that the two clubs are discussing the possibility to include one player in the deal, “currently not guaranteed to be Jhon Duran”.
Romano then reported that the agreement between Villa and Chelsea for Maatsen is for a total fee of £37.5million.
The Italian also claimed that one player is to be included in discussions to join Chelsea from Villa, but this will formally be in a separate deal.
“Final round of talks soon for personal terms details, then… here we go,” concluded Romano.
Aston Villa set to beat Borussia Dortmund to Maatsen
Ian Maatsen made a real name for himself on loan at Dortmund, who reached the Champions League final last term.
However, the Bundesliga side seems to be unable to meet the financial requirements set by Chelsea with regards to a deal for the defender.
With that in mind, Villa look set to be the beneficiaries in signing an ‘exceptional‘ talent, one who already knows the Champions League inside out.
Manchester City have also been linked with a move for Maatsen, but it looks as though he will soon be playing in claret and blue if everything continues on the right track.