Any Netherlands success at Euro 2024 could bring back memories for Charlton Athletic: View | OneFootball

A former Charlton Athletic loanee is in the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024.

A former Charlton Athletic player could feature in any Netherlands success at Euro 2024.

Ronald Koeman's Dutch team have made a strong start to the tournament, beating Poland 2-1 in their opening game and drawing 0-0 with France on Friday night.

Ahead of their final group stage fixture against Austria, it looks as though they will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.

Charlton fans might get to see one of their former players in an orange jersey before the end of the Euros, as Ian Maatsen was called up to the squad at the last minute to represent his country in Germany.

Maatsen was on holiday in Greece when he received a late call-up for the Euros, replacing the injured Teun Koopmeiners, just a couple of weeks after losing the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund.

Maatsen played for Charlton

Now that Maatsen is playing in European finals at Wembley and being selected for major international tournaments with the Netherlands, it seems like a long time ago that he was at The Valley playing for Charlton.

Three years ago, the left-back was coming off the back of a seventh place finish in League One under Nigel Adkins, and preparing to return to parent club Chelsea.

Maatsen's qualities were evident during his time at Charlton, despite only being a teenager, and he featured regularly throughout the 2020/21 campaign, as Charlton missed out on the play-offs on goal difference in their first season back in the third tier.

He scored a well-taken winning goal in a victory away at Doncaster Rovers towards the end of the season, as the Addicks put a few wins together in their pursuit of a top-six finish.

The 22-year-old has seen his career progress rapidly since his temporary spell at Charlton, but he will likely consider his first loan move as a good platform for what he has gone on to achieve since.

Maatsen has seen his career progress rapidly

Following his time at The Valley, Maatsen spent the next season on loan at Coventry City in the Championship. The left-back performed well in the second tier, earning another loan move the season after at promotion contenders Burnley.

Maatsen was a key part of the Burnley side that accumulated 101 points under Vincent Kompany during the 2022/23 campaign, winning the Championship title in style.

Since then, Maatsen has played on loan at Borussia Dortmund, where his performances were good enough to earn a spot on the plane for Euro 2024.

He is set to join Aston Villa from Chelsea this summer, after Unai Emery's team achieved a top-four finish in the Premier League and will play Champions League football next season.

It has felt like a long three years in the career of Ian Maatsen, as he has gone from sharing a pitch with Jayden Stockley to playing against Vinicius Jr at Wembley.

If Maatsen plays a part in any Netherlands success at the UEFA European Championship in Germany this summer, Charlton fans will look back on his season in SE7 and hope that the club can go on to enjoy a collective success story like he has had individually.