Summary Chelsea sold key senior men to make way for new signings, spending over £1bn despite Todd Boehly's recent takeover. Young academy talent like Lewis Hall was sold to help with Financial Fair Play pressures. Ian Maatsen is delighted to stay with the Blues despite being linked with a late move to Burnley
Footage has emerged showing just how delighted Chelsea youngster Ian Maatsen was to not be sold on transfer deadline day amid strong speculation over a late move to Burnley.
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It was an extremely busy window for the Blues as they sold a number of formerly key senior men – such as Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy and many others – to make way for plenty of new incomings.
Indeed, the likes of Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer and more arrived to actually take Todd Boehly and co's total spending to up over up to over £1bn, despite having only been with the club since May 2022.
Naturally, to fund this chaotic transfer strategy, Chelsea have had to sell some younger academy to talent, which should help ease some Financial Fair Play (FFP) pressures. For instance, 18-year-old Lewis Hall moved to Newcastle on loan with an obligation to buy in a deal worth up to £35m.
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Another talented youngster to potentially be sold in the window was Maatsen. Indeed, on deadline day, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported that Burnley had agreed £31.5m package deal to sign the player.
However, the journalist did not in his update that there was "still no green light from player side" and it seems as though the 21-year-old wasn't particularly keen on the move.
After all, as you can see in this footage shared on Twitter, while watching reports of his possible exit, a delighted-looking Maatsen can be seen saying: "I'm still here. Up the Blues!"
As per journalist Matt Law, it was Maatsen who ultimately pulled the plug on the deal too. He wrote on Twitter: "Ian Maatsen is staying at Chelsea. Chelsea agreed a deal with Burnley but Maatsen decided not to go."
When did Ian Maatsen join Chelsea?
Many fans outside of Chelsea won't know an awful lot about Maatsen. After all, he has just four senior appearances to his name, and has seen only 13 minutes of Premier League action. Which is why many eyebrows would have likely been raised had the move to Burnley gone through at such a high price.
He has been at the club for a number of years now, though, having joined the Blues back in July 2018, arriving from Dutch team PSV Eindhoven – and can play left-back, wing-back, centre-back or in central midfield.
He did actually spend last season on loan with Burnley, scoring four goals and providing six assists, which explains why they'd be so happy to try and bring him back for Turf Moor. Although judging from the clip above, Maatsen was more than happy to stay put.
It seems Mauricio Pochettino will be content to keep the 21-year-old around too. After all, over the summer, the manager told Chelsea's website: "I am so happy with him.
"He is a player that can play in different positions. He has quality, he understands the game, and he is such a clever player."
This was back in July, but even then Pochettino was keen to give him a shot at breaking into the first team, saying: "So far, he is in my plan, yes.
"I am so pleased with him, as I’ve said, because of his attitude, commitment and his understanding of the game.
"He is a player that you can use in different positions and that is a good thing for the team and the coaching staff. It is always good to have this type of player."