Romano brings fresh transfer update on “slightly surprising links” and another potential sale | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano’s column for Caughtoffside is live now, and it has some important updates for Chelsea fans.

First up is news about a player almost certain to depart this summer. Ian Maatsen has been pencilled in as a sale for about a year now, and came very close to a move to Burnley in the summer. After suffering on the bench for 6 months, he went to Dortmund in January, where he’s shone.

His performances have been so good that some have called for him to come back and rejoin the first team, but Romano has had to slap that idea down:

“My understanding is that Maatsen will leave Chelsea for sure, so no, I don’t see him staying. Borussia Dortmund will try their best to keep Maatsen, they’re very happy with him and he’s also happy in Dortmund.”

His take on things is that, given Dortmund like Maatsen and Maatsen likes Dortmund, he will be making his move there permanent. The only question is whether the German club can afford to pay what Chelsea want.

Kepa saves from Jack Grealish

An audacious idea

The other Chelsea rumour that Romano deals with is the idea that we are interested in signing Jack Grealish. Romano himself calls these links “slightly surprising,” and says he has “zero information” on the story.

He adds that Man City are not discussing the midfielder’s future even internally at this point. Which doesn’t mean that it’s not happening, it may be that Romano is just a couple of steps behind Simon Phillips (who originally reported the links) on this one.

Given Grealish’s diminished importance and slightly joyless vibe at City, a move doesn’t sound totally impossible. Right now he’s a flair played being used in a functional role, and he might feel his talents are being wasted a little, despite the trophies.