Chelsea star taking Jude Bellingham transfer route as clear Mauricio Pochettino message sent

Ian Maatsen holds no bitterness towards Chelsea or Mauricio Pochettino following his loan switch to Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old spent the first half of the season at Stamford Bridge but played just 465 minutes in all competitions for the Blues. Maatsen has been at Dortmund for a fraction of that time and has accumulated almost double that amount of minutes with the Black and Yellow.

The Netherlands international has scored once and assisted twice in his 10 games for the Germans. Maatsen signed a new contract at Chelsea when switching to Bundesliga in January for a loan spell, but there is believed to be a £35million release clause in his deal with the Blues that becomes active in the summer.

Chelsea, football.london understands, remain keen on selling Maatsen in the summer transfer window. Should a club pay his £35m clause, then the Blues would bank this as pure profit as Maatsen joined the club back in 2018 as an academy signing.

Maatsen has impressed at Signal Iduna Park thus far and even if Dortmund do not want to sign the Dutchman on a permanent basis, there is set to be a queue of potential suitors for his signature. At Chelsea, prior to his loan switch, he was a player very much on the periphery of proceedings.

He was essentially being used as a handyman; a player that could be used virtually anywhere. However, that was mostly from the bench for Maatsen. Although frustrated at his lack of opportunities, that restricted him to three starts in all competitions and just one in the Premier League, Maatsen understands Pochettino and his difficult position.

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