Borussia Dortmund have held talks over a deal to sign the Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen, who is up for sale.
Maatsen has only made one start in the Premier League this season, even though Mauricio Pochettino has been dealing with an injury crisis. The Dutchman, who spent last season on loan at Burnley, is a candidate to leave as Chelsea look to raise funds for potential signings.
Dortmund are interested in the 21-year-old but negotiations are not at an advanced stage. Chelsea would want about £30m for Maatsen. Burnley tried to sign him at the end of the previous window, only for the versatile defender to reject the move. West Ham also tracked Maatsen last summer.
Chelsea’s hopes of signing a top striker are likely to hinge on sales that would help their financial fair play position. As Maatsen is an academy product any money received would go down as pure profit in FFP terms.
Other academy players who could leave include Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, and Armando Broja’s situation could be one to watch if Chelsea sign a forward. Chelsea have tracked Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Brentford’s Ivan Toney but both would be difficult to sign this month.
Gallagher’s contract expires in 18 months and the midfielder is wanted by Tottenham. Chelsea would listen to offers of about £50m but Pochettino wants to keep the England international. Chalobah has been out with a hamstring injury since the start of the season. Nottingham Forest and Bayern Munich tried to sign the defender last summer. A move has also been mooted for Noni Madueke but the winger has scored in Chelsea’s past two matches.
Chelsea have agreed to loan the promising midfielder, Alex Matos, to Huddersfield until the end of the season. Matos, who joined the club from Norwich, has been a regular in the matchday squad this season and has made two substitute appearances. Andrey Santos is expected to return from his unsuccessful loan at Forest this week.
