Enzo Maresca handed boost in £35m Chelsea summer transfer decision

The future of Chelsea full-back Ian Maatsen is one of the tasks that will be on incoming head coach Enzo Maresca’s to-do list over the summer, and it may have been made slightly easier.

It was set to be a busy summer for the Chelsea loanee. He is in Champions League final action for loan club Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, after which he would have been quickly due to join up with the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024.

However, Ronald Koeman’s decision on his final squad for the tournament has freed Maatsen up for a few weeks at least. The full-back is one of four players who have been axed from the preliminary squad.

The call comes amid uncertainty over the player’s future at Stamford Bridge. After failing for regular game time at Chelsea in the first half of the season, he joined Borussia Dortmund on loan in January after putting pen to paper on a new contract with the club.

That deal has a release clause of £35 million, and it is reported that Dortmund do not have an option to buy or even a first refusal on any permanent. It therefore adds the unknown to Maatsen’s future.

The good news for Chelsea now is that the time that the defender would have spent playing in the Euros can be used to try and sort out his future. Without needing an extended break, which may go into pre-season, it allows Maresca to take a closer look at the player before deciding whether to integrate him back into the squad or cash in during the summer window.

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If he is sold this summer, then it could help Chelsea amid their worries surrounding the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) in the summer. The situation means that the club could also opt to sell the likes of Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah this summer.