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Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino explains club's decision to accept deadline day transfer offers for Trevoh Chalobah & Ian Maatsen despite them supposedly being in his plans

Mauricio Pochettino has explained Chelsea's decision to accept bids for both Trevor Chalobah and Ian Maatsen on transfer deadline day.

Chelsea duo both touted to be leaving
Maatsen spent 22-23 season with Burnley
Chalobah saw Forest move fall through

WHAT HAPPENED? Both Chalobah and Maatsen looked set to leave Stamford Bridge on loan during the summer, but both deals failed to materialise and the pair remained at Chelsea. Maatsen was attracting interest from former loan club Burnley, while Chalobah was said to be close to joining both Bayern Munich and Nottingham Forest.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, the Blues boss said: “What I can tell you is that there is there are two sides [to the situation]. If an offer appears, it is because another part of the club accepted that they move or they were trying to find a solution for a player that wanted to leave. You cannot only blame the club, if an offer appears for Jesus [Perez, my assistant], it is because Jesus was open to receiving the offer, no? Come on, we need to also be clever. The players that are here if they deserve will have the opportunities to play, but they need to be better than the others in their position.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Both players have featured sporadically for Chelsea since the Argentinian's arrival in the summer, with Chalobah yet to start during the 2023-24 season. The defender is also rumoured to be still attracting interest from Bayern Munich, with the German giants said to be considering a fresh move for him during the January transfer window, according to Football Insider. Maatsen has so far made three Premier League appearances, all as a substitute.

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