Aston Villa are blessed to have a pretty strong squad as they look to build upon finishing in the Champions League places from last season under Unai Emery.
The Midlands club decided to go down an interesting road this summer when they signed Ian Maatsen from Chelsea after he starred on loan for Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.
It was a big coup for Aston Villa and, at that time, they had two senior left-backs on their books – Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno.
The latter was one of Villa’s best players pre-injury, whilst Digne helped Emery reach the Champions League by producing consistent performances.
In the end, it was Moreno who made way by joining Nottingham Forest on loan and a door had opened for Maatsen at Villa.
Fast forward to the present and the 22-year-old is yet to start a Premier League or Champions League match for his new side.
Not because he is doing anything wrong, in fact, he is producing positive cameos from the bench, but because of Digne’s pitch-perfect performances.
But despite reaching the Champions League final last season and being as impactful as he can from the bench for Villa, Maatsen has yet to play a single minute for the Netherlands.
Ronald Koeman is the Dutch boss and he didn’t play the forward-thinking left-back at Euro 2024, after a late call-up, and now that has continued.
But Rafael van der Vaart has issued some interesting comments despite all of this and labelled Villa’s new man as ‘very good’ and ‘the best left-back we have right now’, as he told Voetlbalprimeur.
Former Dutch international Theo Janssen agreed by stating that he prefers Maatsen to teenager and Ajax star, Jorrel Hato.
Ian Maatsen hailed ahead of Netherlands clash against Germany
Rafael van der Vaart on Ian Maatsen at left-back for the Netherlands
“I think he’s a very good player. I think he’s the best left-back we have right now.”
Theo Janssen added: “My preference is also for Maatsen. Hato has gone through a hype, has done very well and has come quickly. But I think he’s more of a centre-back than a left-back. Maatsen can really add something to the game.”
Lucas Digne is playing his best football at Aston Villa
Digne’s performances for Villa have earned him a France recall and it’s no surprise because he has been outstanding for 18 months now.
The only way Maatsen would probably start a game for Villa in the Premier League or Europe right now is because of rotation.
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And, in truth, that is probably needed because Villa’s fixture list just continues to be gruelling.
Maatsen will get his time and earn starts for Villa, but in the meantime, the squad is showing its strength because Emery can afford to have a Champions League finalist on the bench.
