Why Jorrel Hato To Chelsea Just Makes Sense

From Gullit To Hato.

Who is Jorrel Hato?

Jorrel Hato is a 19 year old defender currently plying his trade for boyhood club Ajax but is now trading it for a huge £40m move to Chelsea. If you’re a football scout or perhaps someone who plays Football Manager you’d already be very familiar with the Dutchman. But for those who aren't: Hato broke into Ajax’s first team in the 2022/23 season after impressing in the Ajax u21s who compete in the 2nd tier of Dutch football - the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. He was rewarded with 608 Eredivisie minutes across 11 appearances. Since then, Hato became a mainstay in Ajax’s first team, earning himself at least 3,000 minutes across both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 season and has made 33 and 31 league appearances across both seasons respectively.

Hato’s profile.

When Hato broke through, he was seen mostly as a Centre-Back and made most of his appearances in that position. However, since then he has made many appearances at Left-Back, predominantly under recently departed manager Francesco Farioli. This is due to two main factors: his great athletic ability standing at six feet tall whilst also being very quick, especially over short distances, and the recent tactical development that has seen managers obsessed with using inverted fullbacks - most commonly as either 3rd Centre-Back’s or to form a double pivot with a lone number 6. Hato also possesses useful attacking threat for a player that is very much a defense first fullback, with 4.17 progressive passes per 90, 3.89 passes into the final third and 0.21 assists per 90.

These numbers are by no means extraordinary but they do show that he can be a threat from deep for his side. He is also a very good 1v1 defender because of his speed and generally good reading of the game, this leads him to tackling 76.7% of dribblers that take him on per 90. He is by no means perfect - he’s 19, he is extremely one-footed, rarely opting to use his right foot even in situations where perhaps it’d be more beneficial to do so. This isn’t the best trait however, it can be and is often hidden by the fact he operates mostly in the left half space so he very rarely needs to use his right foot when it comes to progressing the ball.

Hato also has a fair way to go on his aerial ability, winning just 52.4% of his aerial duels in 2023/24 and 56% in 2024/25 - his percentage of aerials won has improved over the last 2 seasons but this could be down to the change in position from centre back to left back, resulting in facing less aerial duels.

What can Jorrel Hato bring to Chelsea?

The young dutchman of course fits Todd Boehly’s Chelsea regime of signing young talented players for the future of Chelsea but how can he improve Chelsea now as well? Well, Chelsea are in pretty dire need of cover for both centre back and left back and as discussed previously, these are the 2 positions in which Hato plays. Reports suggest that much like former boss Francesco Farioli, Chelsea view Hato as more of a left back - this would very much tie into the way in which Enzo Maresca sets up his Chelsea team tactically. Maresca currently uses Marc Cucurella as an inverted full back and someone who impacts the game mostly in the 2nd and 3rd phases of play, once in settled possession Cucurella will advance to support the midfield and then into the left half space which helps create 1v1’s for his winger.

As you can see in the above graph, Hato and Cucurella aren’t too dissimilar in the way in which they perform in some of the key attributes for fullbacks. These similarities can also underline the role in which they both play. Cucurella is a very aggressive defender in the way in which he steps up hence the amount of times he wins possession as opposed to Jorrel Hato who wins duels, which can perhaps point towards the difference in stature between the 2 players.

Cucurella’s role in this Chelsea team isn’t necessarily to progress play but to be the spare man always finding pockets in the half spaces whether to create numerical advantage or occupy an opposing defender. Hato’s qualities suggest he can also do just that and more with better progression numbers and also being a more physically imposing character which can be a really important quality in games against lower blocks and teams that look to use long balls to create counter attacking opportunities.

Verdict

Jorrel Hato is still a raw talent in some regards but we’re also talking about a player with plenty of minutes in his legs alongside appearances in high level competitions like the Europa League - all at 19 years old. He can provide good cover for Chelsea in positions that they are in need of but do so without having the pressure of having to be a player that needs to hit the ground running - which could have been the case if Chelsea didn’t have the likes of Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella. Hato will also be walking into a squad that is pretty settled, this is much down to the work of manager Enzo Maresca who last season managed a big squad through Conference and Premier League seasons with very honest conversations with his players - this is another factor that should help him settle down and gain confidence, allowing him to perform at his best.