da marjack bet： West Ham United have a new target on their radar it seems, with The Athletic reporting they are now keeping a close eye on Chelsea's Ian Maatsen, who starred on loan at Burnley last season.
How many goals has Ian Maatsen scored for Burnley?
da poker： The 21-year-old has come up through the ranks with Chelsea but has still yet to make his Premier League debut for his parent club. He's had to make do with only reserve team showings for the Blues and a variety of loan spells to get regular minutes and experience.
Given the chance to play a prominent role for Burnley, he grasped it with both hands. The left-back helped the Clarets to a Championship title and promotion, with the defender featuring in 39 games. It led to him bagging four goals and six assists, despite the fact he was a part of their backline. It marked the first time he had hit a double digit amount of goal contributions in his career.
It isn't the first time he has proven to be a solid option in the Championship either. A year earlier, he spent some time with Coventry and missed only six games throughout the entire league season for the Sky Blues. He didn't bag as many goals or assists – he hit the back of the net three times and teed up a teammate once – but was still a reliable option and featured heavily for his side as they finished 12th.
Are West Ham United signing Ian Maatsen?
Now, he could have the chance to play in the Premier League for the first time in his career. That's because West Ham have entered the race to sign Maatsen this summer, with Burnley also still keen. The Clarets have been linked with a move for most of the summer, but according to a report from The Athletic, the Hammers have recently added him to their own transfer wanted list.
No official bid is on the table yet, from the Irons or any other club, but there appear to be a handful of sides all monitoring the situation of the left-back now. Whether he does leave or stay with Chelsea could depend on whether they offer him more gametime, or whether any other players in his position are shown the door by Mauricio Pochettino before the transfer window shuts.
It has been his showings with Burnley that really seem to have caught the attention of many. Football talent scout Jacek Kulig highlighted that Maatsen bagged a "superb" brace for the Clarets during their run to the Championship title and also picked on the fact he had four goals and assists for the club at the time.
It shows that he has really shone when given the opportunity to play regularly in the second tier, and may now have earned the opportunity to try his luck more frequently further up the pyramid. That could now come with West Ham, as the Hammers look to build on their European success and push on next season.