Jorrel Hato this year is only 19 years old and is quite strange to English football lovers. But Chelsea is still ready to spend £ 35 million to bring him to Stamford Bridge. So, how did Enzo Maresca see Hato potential to bring him into the squad of a very cramped and crowded Blues?
Dutch defender is only 19 years old but has played quite poise, can adapt quickly to the Premier League. Hato had 117 peak matches, scored 4 goals and had 10 assists from the Ajax one team. More importantly, HATO can kick many positions in the defense, can reduce the load for Marc Cucurella on the left wing and enhance the depth of the center -back position of the London team.
In fact, Cucurella was a player who played more minutes than anyone else at Chelsea (not counting the goalkeeper) last season, with a total of 4,344 minutes, significantly more than the second most player Moicedo (4,290 minutes) and the third Cole Palmer (4,242). Therefore, Chelsea believes that Hato potential rookie can reduce the burden on Cucurella after the club completes the contract with this defender Ajax.
This year 19, Hato can play in many positions in the defense, including the center -back. But of course, with Hato's profile, the Blues mainly considers him as an additional depth and competitiveness in the left -back position. Cucurella played a total of 54 matches, four more matches compared to the CaiCedo midfielder.
The Spanish defender is one of the best stable players of Chelsea and coach Maresca does not want Cucurella to be at risk of exhaustion or serious injury due to having to play too much. The Blues need a quality backup for Cucurella, so that he can focus on the two main League and Champions League fronts this season.
While CaiCedo, Palmer and Enzo Fernandez, the second, third and fourth people in the number of minutes last season, are the key players, Chelsea still have depth in their corresponding positions to be able to rotate, give them a rest if desired.
And signing a contract with HATO from the same desire related to Cucurella, with the position of left -back is one of the few positions that Chelsea think they lack both quantity and quality. In fact, Hato can also play in the left -defense center that may be good for Levi Colwill, the fifth person in the list of players who play the most last season, but Cucurella may be the most beneficiary.
Sometimes Rece James temporarily played in the left -back position last season, but the Blues wanted a more suitable player for this position to compete with Cucurella and allow him to rest. With Hato, Chelsea has an incredibly calm defender when holding the ball, a common feature in Ajax's defenders.
That strength combined with the ability to pass the ball and superior physical strength, turning HATO into one of the most talented young defenders in Europe. Ea Sports FC 24 has rated HATO to be the youngest defender with the highest potential among the defenders under 21 years old in the video game.
In the Dutch league 2023/24, HATO is the player with the number of successful passes and the highest accurate pass rate. In November 2023, at the age of 17 and 8 months, he became the youngest player as captain Ajax. A week later, he came to the field to replace Virgil Van Dijk in the half of the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Gibraltar, becoming the second youngest player in an orange tornado since 1931, after Matthijs de Ligt.
Recalling these things to see that Hato is very young but not inexperienced. And, Chelsea owns the most potential defender in Europe today.
