Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen continues to make an argument for a permanent stay at Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund recorded their very first win in three games across all competitions this weekend, beating Union Berlin 2-0 away from home. The performance itself wasn’t the most convincing, but the result certainly granted some much needed respite from Dortmund’s continued slip in form. 

A player who also saw himself bounce back in this game was Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen. Maatsen’s form had taken a dip across Dortmund’s games in both the Bundesliga (Hoffenheim) and in the Champions League (PSV Eindhoven), where the Dutchman seemed to struggle, especially defensively. 

Maatsen found the version of himself against Union that had made many Dortmund fans very excited when he first joined, and he capped off the display by scoring the goal that clinched the result for his side in the closing minutes of the game, taking pressure off the defense in the process. As of joining the club, Maatsen has chipped in with a goal and two asssits, has on average created three big chances per 90, and has maintained an 88% pass accuracy. Defensively he has chipped in with 2.3 tackles per 90 and won 56% of his ground duels.

These numbers, and in extension these performances, (barring the aforementioned encounters with Hoffenheim and PSV), lend themselves towards Dortmund making a move or keep Maatsen on a permanent deal in the summer. According to a recent interview with Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl, such a deal would take a hefty sum of capital to pull of:

"In the end, it will take a lot of money, a lot of money. Definitely more than we have at the moment."

- Sebastian Kehl

Letting Maatsen go back to Chelsea would, at least in my opinion, be a blow for Dortmund considering the club would be putting themselves almost in the same position they were in prior to Maatsen’s arrival, with the only key difference being that Tom Rothe would be retuning from loan after an exemplary season with Holstein Kiel in the 2. Bundesliga. 

Even with Rothe’s return, the club would be pinning their hopes on their young academy product and Ramy Bensebaini, who has shown to be less reliable than Dortmund would have perhaps hoped considering his experience in the Bundesliga. It would be a shame to put the burden of performance squarely on Rothe’s shoulders. 

That being said, it will be interesting to see how Dortmund choose to proceed in this situation come the summer. Leaving themselves without adequate and quality coverage could lead to a similarly disappointing season in the following year - a result the club cannot allow to reoccur.