Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa: The Athletic 500 transfer ratings

Aston Villa have signed Ian Maatsen from Chelsea.

Our writers — experts in transfers, tactics, data and football finance — have come together to rate this summer’s senior Premier League transfers in five categories, with each aspect given a score out of 100, to reach a total score out of 500. Hence, The Athletic 500. The ratings are explained in more detail here.

Below is our rating for this move.

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Tactical fit — 79/100

A look at how the player fits into his new club tactically, using Sentient Sports’ bespoke tactical-fit model, explained by our tactical expert.

Ian Maatsen is a promising tactical fit for Aston Villa. He suits manager Unai Emery’s 4-4-2 setup and his attributes, such as his ability to build up play, create chances, and execute quick counterattacks, align with Emery’s preference for structured build-up and aggressive counter-pressing.

Emery will particularly appreciate Maatsen’s contributions to an attacking shape. Villa’s Spanish manager often allows one full-back to push forward, and Maatsen can provide overlapping runs and deliver low crosses to potentially break down compact defences and create goalscoring opportunities.

Maatsen spent the second half of last season on loan to Germany’s Borussia Dortmund from Chelsea. Here, in a match against Heidenheim, Nico Schlotterbeck passes ahead for Maatsen to run on and drag Eren Dinkci out of position, also alerting Omar Haktab Traore to cover. Maatsen’s speed allows him to reach the ball first, beating both defenders, and he delivers a low cross into a dangerous area.

Maatsen’s biggest strength is his ball-carrying over large distances, not limited to his team’s left flank. Confident ball carriers such as Maatsen are invaluable in Emery’s system, as they can transition play from defence to attack, stretch the opposition, and create space.

The 22-year-old, who is in the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 squad, had a progressive carrying distance of 140.58 yards per game last season, placing him in the top eight per cent of full-backs in Europe’s top five domestic leagues. For comparison with Villa’s full-backs last season, Lucas Digne averaged 66.7 yards and Alex Moreno 96.55. Maatsen also excels at passing into the final third, averaging 4.62 passes per game, ranking in the top 11 per cent of full-backs.

In the two images below, we see Maatsen skip past Konrad Laimer of Bayern Munich and, after assessing his options, choosing to continue to carry the ball. Bayern’s players are unable to keep up.

In the below segment, from the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Maatsen wins the ball and advances up the field. Federico Valverde engages but gets bypassed. Despite the tight area, Maatsen threads a pass between Antonio Rudiger and Dani Carvajal, creating a great goalscoring opportunity for Niclas Fullkrug.

Defensively, Maatsen is balanced by Villa’s positional play principles. There is solidity, even when the full-backs push up. However, he must adapt to Emery’s mid-block, high line and offside trap. Maatsen is susceptible to miscontrols (1.84 per game) and is not the strongest tackler (47.1 per cent success rate). These weaknesses, typical of an attack-minded player, can be mitigated with tactical adjustments.

Maatsen would bring something different to Villa’s left-back position and at his age appears to be a long-term investment in their defensive and attacking capabilities.

Gillian Kasirye

Season rating: 75/100

Rating the player over last season, using statistics from The Athletic’s data team.

Maatsen started 2023-24 slowly, struggling to establish himself during a turbulent first half of the season at Chelsea under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino. But after joining Dortmund on loan in January, he showed what his parent club had been missing.

GO DEEPER

How Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen has become key to Borussia Dortmund's 'new ideas'

In 16 Bundesliga appearances, Maatsen contributed an impressive two goals and two assists from left-back. Dortmund’s form improved considerably following his arrival. According to Opta, Maatsen’s non-penalty expected goals (xG) tally of 0.13 ranked within the 91st percentile of all full-backs in Europe’s top five domestic leagues — so only nine per cent were better. He also ranked within the 80th percentile or better in interceptions (1.20 per 90 minutes), blocks (1.63) and clearances (2.87), demonstrating he’s much more than just an attacking wing-back.

He was perhaps even more impressive in the Champions League. He played every minute in the knockout stage as Dortmund reached the final, losing 2-0 to Madrid at Wembley.

Elias Burke

Gaming rating: 70/100

Rating the player according to Football Manager 2024’s data across current and potential ability.

According to Football Manager, Maatsen is a Premier League-quality full-back with the potential to develop into one of the world’s best in his position.

His current ability rating of 134 ranks him in a similar ilk to Villa’s right-back Matty Cash (139) and Tyrick Mitchell (138) of Crystal Palace, suggesting he is a starting-quality player for a Premier League club.

If that’s not enough to pique your interest, his potential is frightening.

Sports Interactive’s extensive scouting network has given him a potential range of 130-160 — essentially judging his floor to be as a starting Premier League full-back and his ceiling on the level of Reece James (161) or Trent Alexander-Arnold (162), two England internationals.

For our gaming rating, we went for a potential rating of 145, which is in the middle of this range.

Elias Burke

Financial value rating: 58/100

A four-category summary of the player’s transfer in financial terms — and whether it makes sense for his new club.

Market value: 12/25

This is a significant investment for a defender who only made his Premier League debut last season. A run to the Champions League final with Dortmund has clearly changed perceptions but the outlay of £37.5million is higher than an initial buyout clause secured by the German club.

Squad cost: 15/25

For a club sailing close to the PSR wind (the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules), it is a sizeable chunk of the summer budget to sign off on a left-back. A sale in the opposite direction, though, would help redress the risk and perhaps see Villa and Chelsea address one another’s problems. Villa need to be creative in their search for depth ahead of Champions League football next season.

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Contract sensibility: 17/25

A six-year deal tying Maatsen down until 2030 is longer than any other player contract on Villa’s books. That provides all parties with security and also enables Villa to amortise their financial outlay over the maximum five-year period. It means this deal will only count as £7.5million per season for PSR purposes.

Resale value: 14/25

Maatsen has a long career ahead of him after only turning 22 three months ago, and a deal running to 2030 underlines this is not a short-term gamble. Value can be held but his development would have to be striking for it to grow significantly.

Philip Buckingham

Risk or reward? 78/100

Is there a history of injury or other problems that could crop up and make this deal a bad one in retrospect? Or does the player come with a clean bill of health? Our expert takes a look.

Given the sizeable fee, there is undoubtedly risk involved, but the potential reward makes this deal worth it for Villa.

Other than a hamstring problem while on loan at Coventry City of the second-tier Championship in the 2021-22 season, Maatsen has never missed more than two successive games due to injury. He’s maintained this impressive record over the past four seasons, playing 141 times across four leagues — League One (on loan to Charlton Athletic), Championship (loans to Coventry and then Burnley), Premier League and Bundesliga — to highlight his durability and versatility as he played in various roles and systems.

While he joins Villa at just 22, he has played and succeeded in the Champions League, a potentially vital quality given the relative inexperience of Europe’s premier club competition across their squad.

With plenty of time to develop and a proven track record of excellent performances in different leagues, it is no wonder why Emery was so keen on bringing the Dutchman to Villa Park.

For a club with big aspirations, this signing makes a lot of sense.

Elias Burke

Overall rating: 360/500

(Top photo: Leon Kuegeler/Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)