This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Burnley are closing in on the signing of Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen, as per a report from The Athletic.
The young left-back has attracted widespread interest this summer, with the Clarets seemingly leading a pack of interested teams in this particular race.
Maatsen enjoyed a productive loan spell with Coventry City last time out, with the 20-year-old featuring 40 times for the Sky Blues in the Championship, predominantly operating in a wing-back position.
Maatsen had been close to sealing a loan move to Borussia Dortmund earlier in the window, however, that failed to materialise and it is now the Clarets who are seemingly in the best position.
Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding Burnley's interest in the Chelsea defender...
Charlie Gregory
Ian Maatsen is still only very young and early on in his career but the player could be excellent for Burnley this season and could certainly be a first-team player.
He featured heavily for Coventry in their play-off battling campaign last year and has also featured for Charlton too, so has worked his way up. A chance with Burnley could help him to develop even more and become an even better player.
He has shown flashes of his brilliance and regular football could help him reach new heights. The 20-year-old could end up even better give the chance and the Clarets would expect to be at the top end of the table too.
It could be a great move for both parties.
Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson
Ian Maatsen could be a really great pick up for Vincent Kompany's side this summer.
We saw last year the talent he possesses at Coventry City and in all honesty, I thought he seemed a bit beyond a move back to the Championship.
Nevertheless, he is here, and that only strengthens Burnley's options as they continue their re-build under their new Belgian boss.
It will be interesting to see Maatsen and Charlie Taylor battle it out for a place down that left hand side in the Clarets defence, but you can certainly see him being good enough to emerge as a regular starter, particularly if Kompany is looking for a more attacking option.
Taylor is a good player, but eventually, after how good he was last year, it seems almost impossible that Maatsen will not impress once again this upcoming season and put himself firmly in Vincent Kompany's thoughts for a starting place.
Josh Cole
When you consider that Maatsen managed to deliver some encouraging performances in the Championship last season during his loan spell at Coventry City, there is no reason why he cannot become an ever-present in Burnley's starting eleven in the new term.
Whereas Maatsen will face competition from Charlie Taylor in this particular position, he knows exactly what it takes to succeed in the second-tier and thus will be confident in his ability to gain Kompany's trust.
As well as providing four direct goal contributions at this level for Coventry, the full-back made two tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game (as per WhoScored).
By maintaining his fitness as well as his consistency next season, Maatsen could play a significant role for Burnley as they aim to achieve a great deal of success in the Championship.