Ian Maatsen opens up on Chelsea frustrations ahead of likely £35m summer exit

Ian Maatsen, who is currently on loan at Chelsea, had a phenomenal game on Tuesday night as he helped Borussia Dortmund secure their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Despite not receiving a lot of playing time with his parent club, Maatsen never lost faith in himself and his abilities. He proved that he is a talented player and has rightfully earned his place in the spotlight.

Following an extremely prosperous period at Burnley in the previous season, Maatsen came back to Chelsea in the summer with great expectations of making a significant breakthrough with the Blues this season.

Nonetheless, the young 22-year-old individual initiated just one start in the Premier League during the initial half of the season and therefore felt obliged to depart in January so as to seek out more opportunities to play.

Last Tuesday, the young player scored his inaugural goal in the Champions League and this resulted in Dortmund winning over Atletico Madrid with a score of 4-2. The German team managed to overturn the game and win 5-4 on total score. This win has now allowed them to set up a meeting with Paris Saint-Germain for the semi-finals.

During the initial part of the season, Ian Maatsen was only given one opportunity to start in a Premier League match. This piece of news was conveyed through an image provided by Chelsea FC.

The full-back, whose loan contract goes until the end of the season, expressed surprise by stating, "It was unexpected." Even though he had the conviction to compete for Chelsea, circumstances beyond his control prevented him from doing so.

"Being in this place now fills me with immense gratitude as I recognize the value of this opportunity and this particular moment. All credit goes to my unshakable faith in my abilities as I stuck to it and made sure to showcase my best performance at this level."

Last year, Maatsen declined an offer of £31.5m to move to Burnley even though Chelsea had accepted the proposal. He then extended his contract and went on loan to Dortmund. However, there is still a high chance of him being sold and he has a release clause of £35m as a left-back.