Ian Maatsen’s lack of appearances for Aston Villa since arriving from Chelsea in the summer hasn’t gone unnoticed back at Borussia Dortmund.
That’s at least if Ruhr 24 and BVBWLD are anything to go by, with both covering the defender today and how he would have been better returning to Germany.
The latter kick things off, questioning whether Maatsen ‘miscalculated’ this summer when he chose Aston Villa over Dortmund in the summer.
They say he was the ‘shooting star’ for Maatsen in the second half of last season during his loan spell from Chelsea with an impressive record of three goals and two assists in 23 games but so far has been a ‘bench warmer’ at Aston Villa.
He’s found himself behind Lucas Digne and only managed 107 minutes in the Premier League to date, plus three minutes in the Champions League and a starting place in the EFL Cup clash with Wycombe Wanderers.
That’s a low amount for someone who cost €45.5m to sign from Chelsea in the summer, a figure that was beyond what the Bundesliga club could afford.
Maatsen has insisted he doesn’t regret the move, but BVBWLD argue that his chances of a team ‘would certainly be good’ in Dortmund, where they need a left back. In other words, he should have joined them over Aston Villa.
Ruhr 24 goal a little further, explaining that Dortmund’s ‘dream player’ experiences a ‘nightmare in England’.
They say it was a ‘love affair’ between the player and Dortmund last season, albeit one without a happy ending, and now he’s a ‘bench warmer’ in England. That’s annoying for the German side as they have a ‘left-back problem’.
Maatsen would have solved that, and they were even willing to overlook the 22-year-old’s ‘occasional defensive deficiencies’.
They say it is ‘sad’ to see the player not starring at Aston Villa and is even ‘particularly bitter’ for them given they could really use top class reinforcements at left back, with Nico Schlotterbeck currently being used there and not proving to be a success.
All in all, they’re seemingly very bitter about the whole affair and have been left feeling even more so watching him fail to convince Unai Emery at Villa Park.
