Chelsea transfer verbally agreed after Todd Boehly gets ruthless; Man Utd deal to follow
A Chelsea transfer is verbally agreed on the player side and the Blues are showing a ruthless streak regarding the structure of deal, while a Manchester United switch should quickly follow.
A series of homegrown Chelsea stars appear to have one foot already out of Stamford Bridge. Trevoh Chalobah is up for sale, while the Blues will listen to significant offers for Conor Gallagher despite Mauricio Pochettino’s strong admiration of the midfielder.
Left-back Ian Maatsen is another whose future appears to lay away from west London. The Blues accepted a loan bid that contained a £31.5m obligation to buy from Burnley over the summer, though Maatsen snubbed the chance to re-join the Clarets.
Chelsea activated the one-year option in Maatsen’s contract in October. As such, the Dutchman is now tied down until the summer of 2025.
However, that move was with a view to Chelsea protecting their investment and a future sale was always on the cards.
German giant Borussia Dortmund emerged at the front of the queue to snap up the 21-year-old this month. According to Sky Germany, the player has reached a verbal agreement with Dortmund.
Taking to X, Florian Plettenberg declared a “verbal agreement is done.” Should Chelsea and Dortmund thrash out club-to-club terms, Maatsen will move to Germany on a six-month loan.
However, according to fellow Sky Germany reporter, Patrik Berger, Chelsea are determined to wave goodbye to Maatsen once and for all.
Indeed, Berger reported one of the final details left to be ironed out relates to the option/obligation to buy.
On that front, Berger noted Chelsea “want an obligation to buy”, something that would guarantee Maatsen’s permanent sale when the loan concludes.
The Blues’ hope will no doubt be securing an obligation similar in size to the £31.5m Burnley committed to.
Plettenberg stated positive developments in the club-to-club talks took place on Saturday. It’s now “more and more likely” an agreement will be forged in the coming hours and days.
Man Utd deal to follow?
Dortmund are also in the frame for Man Utd winger, Jadon Sancho. According to the Telegraph, Dortmund’s pursuit of Maatsen is totally separate to their Sancho chase and it’s not a case of one or the other.
The United winger remains frozen out at Old Trafford and has warmed to the idea of re-joining his former club on loan.
A six-month deal to see out the season is expected to cross the line. Man Utd will be on the hook for over half of Sancho’s high salary during the loan, while an option/obligation to buy won’t be included.
Explaining why, Fabrizio Romano claimed United don’t want to place a hard figure on Sancho’s valuation at a time when his standing in the game has never been lower.
In other words, they believe they can recoup a more substantial fee in the future, perhaps after Sancho has provided a reminder of what he’s capable of back in Germany.
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