Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has been speaking about Borussia Dortmund’s failed pursuit of Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen.
Borussia Dortmund were keen on signing Ian Maatsen permanently after his successful loan spell there last season.
However, the left-back is now set to join Chelsea‘s Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Maatsen will be joining Villa on a six-year deal after the Villans agreed a £37.5m deal with the Blues to sign him.
It is a blow for Dortmund, who have missed out on a player who helped them to reach the Champions League final.
Chelsea’s stance on Ian Maatsen made clear
A lot has been said about Chelsea and profit and sustainability rules lately.
However, Sheth says the feeling at the club is that they do not actually have any issues regarding those rules, hence why they felt there was never a need to sell Maatsen to Dortmund for less than their valuation for him.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, the Sky Sports journalist said: “They were unable to go up to £35m, and so they were in talks with Chelsea to try and negotiate on that release clause, and I think they might have been playing on the fact that they thought Chelsea might need to sell because, once again, of profit and sustainability rules.
“Chelsea were holding firm. The feeling from Chelsea is that they haven’t got any issues, as far as the PSR is concerned, and they don’t need to sell below what they feel is the good market value. And so they were sticking properly to £35million.”
Chelsea were right to stand their ground
After waiting for Villa to come in, Chelsea are now set to get nearly £40m for Maatsen, one of their academy graduates.
Considering that, not selling to Dortmund on the German club’s terms was the right move.
In the past, the Blues have been guilty of letting other teams have their own way.
For example, allowing Romelu Lukaku to join AS Roma and Inter Milan on loan when they were trying to get rid of him permanently.
This time, though, they look to have got their own way with Maatsen, with a big fee now coming in for him.