Get Involved – Are Chelsea Title Contenders?
With Jorrel Hato on the brink of becoming Chelsea’s eighth signing of the summer, we want to know what you think of the Blues’ title chances.
Following on from their Club World Cup triumph, are Chelsea genuine title contenders? What have you made of their business so far this window?
Click ‘Get Involved’ at the top of this page to have your say.
Hato – A Versatile Talent
Chelsea has agreed a £37m deal to sign Ajax defender Jorrel Hato – and it is a signing that makes sense for the dynamics of Chelsea’s bloated squad.
The Blues boast seven centre-backs in their current squad but only Levi Colwill, who played regularly last season, and Benoit Badiashile are naturally left-sided. Badiashile’s 2024-25 campaign was disrupted by a hamstring injury in December, although a tally of just three Premier League starts suggests that head coach Enzo Maresca wants a more trusted option to compete with Colwill in the heart of defence.
Hato also offers versatility, having spent large parts of last season at Ajax playing at left-back. With Ben Chilwell firmly out of favour, the 19-year-old can also offer competition to regular left-back Marc Cucurella with a Champions League campaign to come.
In 2023-24, Hato played 80% of his football at centre-back, most commonly in a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, the arrival of head coach Francesco Farioli at Ajax ahead of the 2024-25 campaign saw Hato switched to left-back where he played 94% of his minutes last season, primarily in a 4-3-3 formation.
Hato has already played 111 competitive games for Ajax’s first team, including 96 in the last two seasons – 94 of which were starts. His Ajax debut at just 16 years and 335 days in 2023 made him the third-youngest player to feature for the club in Eredivisie after Clarence Seedorf and Ryan Gravenberch. He also made his Netherlands debut less than a year later.
Hato has been nearly ever-present for Ajax since making his first appearance. Of players from Europe’s top six leagues born after January 1, 2003, Hato has played the most minutes at club level in all competitions since the start of the 2023-24 (8,347), ahead of Jude Bellingham (7,988) and Lamine Yamal (7,506).
Hato’s Playing Style
Jorrel Hato’s switch from centre-back to left-back at Ajax in 2024-25, and a subsequent increased output in terms of creativity, has seen him likened to Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, and there are some similarities in their respective skillsets.
Like the former Liverpool defender, Hato is calm and composed on the ball. The teenager completed 1,352 passes last season, the second-most of any Eredivisie full-back, while his pass success rate of 89.3% was the highest of any full-back in the Dutch top flight despite him regularly taking up more advanced positions – 48% of his open-play touches were in the opposition third of the pitch.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is known to want defenders who can progress the ball, dictate tempo, and play under pressure and Hato, like Alexander-Arnold, fits that bill.
Hato’s utilisation at full-back also saw him record a career-best six assists. Of Eredivisie defenders, only Utrecht’s Souffian El Karouani recorded more (8).
While the tactically-versatile Netherlands international has added end product to his game, he is not entirely alike Alexander-Arnold.
A comparison of their metrics from 2024-25 shows similar output in terms of goals and assists, but the Englishman was far more prolific at creating chances and passing into the box – a by-product of Alexander-Arnold spending time in midfield – while Hato is the more natural defender, winning far more duels on the ground and in the air.
