Maatsen was born in the Southern Netherlands town of Vlaardingen on 10 March 2002. He is the son of parents of Surinamese descent, who have always encouraged and motivated him to take up a professional career as a footballer. He grew up in Vlaardingen and was taken care of by his father, Edward Maatsen, and mother, whose name has not been made available to the public yet. Coming up as a child of working-class parents, Maatsen had to face multiple challenges and fight hard to make it as a footballer. He enrolled in the Feyenoord youth academy at the age of seven, but was dropped by them for being way too small to make it as a footballer, even at a youth level.
Maatsen had to work harder than some of his peers at that level, but spent four years learning his craft at Feyenoord from 2009-2013. He went on to join Sparta Rotterdam's youth system for two years before being poached by PSV Eindhoven at the age of 12 in 2015. Maatsen's impressive development and hard working efforts at PSV Eindhoven from 2015-2018 earned the Chelsea club scouts' attention, forcing the club to make him a lucrative offer to move to London in 2018! Maatsen has admitted that his parents couldn't move with him to London as they were still working their jobs, but gave him their blessing to venture on an exciting new journey in his career. His family have kept supporting him throughout his career, with his dad Edward even driving from the Netherlands to Germany to deliver him his boots before the start of the Euro 2024 campaign.
Maatsen has worked hard to make himself ready to adapt to different systems and ready to play in multiple roles if necessary. The 23-year-old is, of course, a natural left-back who loves being an adventurous figure with his darting overlapping runs down the wide areas thanks to his speedy movement. He excels in linking up with his teammates and moving the ball forward through tight spaces. Maatsen is especially impressive with his passing ability, being able to move it forward in a variety of ways, and he loves dribbling his way into dangerous areas, too.
The Dutchman has also improved his crossing ability over the years, being more composed and precise with his delivery of crosses into the final third. Over the last few years, the 23-year-old has also worked hard to add a side of versatility to his game. He might naturally love to operate as a left-back, but Maatsen can also play in the midfield in a no.8 role or in the midfield pivot with another teammate. He's become quite the industrious defender, capable of reading opponents' moves to make key clearances and winning duels on the left side thanks to his admirable hard-working nature.
Netherlands
