We like this £46m Chelsea defender target

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Jorrel Hato has been mentioned on this newsletter before, and has been appearing in all kinds of top under-20 player lists for quite some time. But he’s just completed his second full season as a first choice player at Ajax, and might feel ready to move on to one of the top leagues in Europe.

Caught Offside are reporting that Chelsea have already opened talks with Ajax, and that the transfer fee is likely in the £46m range. This is not exactly the most reliable of sources, so we’ll be on the lookout for a much better one, but we’re also here to have fun with transfer rumours. And this is one that I think makes sense for everyone.

Hato has played a bit more center back than left back in his youth, but he’s shifted towards the latter position as a professional. As a result, he’s a bit more of a real defender and less of a dribbly playmaker than most of the wonderkids coming up at fullback these days. But he’s also much better in the air than your average left back.

Hato doesn’t score well for passing OBV, but has a high passing percentage and avoids turnovers. You might want center backs and/or a deep-lying playmaker around him who are great ball progressers, though I think this is something he can definitely develop. He has the technical tools to be a plus passer, and passing vision is something that generally improves with age.

I also think that Hato’s key passes are very encouraging. Even though there’s not a big variety of passes into the box from different locations, or even a particularly high volume of key passes, the ones he gets are super high value. When he gets into the box in the left half space, he’s excellent at picking out a teammate’s feet in the center of the box or at the back post.

We’ve done plenty of criticism of Chelsea’s transfer strategy here, but I’d like this signing a lot for them. He’s good enough to help them at left back immediately, with pretty high upside.

Hato would be expensive, but I also think he’s as close to a sure thing 19-year-old as you’re going to find. He’s got a great physical profile, he’s a talented one-on-one defender, and he’s technically sound. Flop potential is very low.

More rumours below, but first, we’d appreciate it very much if you’d take some time to check out our sponsor.

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More transfer rumours

• Here’s a very funny story out of Spain that Brentford might sell Bryan Mbuemo to Manchester United for £55m. I mean… I guess I’d like that a bit more than Cunha for £62m?

• The Birmingham Mail reports that Ferran Torres is a target for Aston Villa at about £42m. Actually feels like a reasonable player-team fit and fee. Problem is, guys really do not like to leave Barcelona.

• Brighton are signing PSV defender Olivier Boscagli, and oh my god every single PSV player’s passing stats are hilarious.

• Speaking of Brighton, Fab says they’re willing to let Joao Pedro go for around €70m. I’m sure they are! Anyone interested will open the bidding at around half that.

• A few outlets are yapping about Manchester City entering the race for Milos Kerkez, which I think means that his agent is trying to send Liverpool a message to stop screwing around and make a good offer.

• Several Italian outlets are reporting that Victor Osimhen has rejected Juventus because he wants a move to England, so apparently his agent really wanted everyone to know how much he doesn’t like Juventus.

• Marca is reporting that Real Madrid will buy Nico Williams if they sell Rodrygo. This might seem sensible at first — Madrid sells 3rd best forward for a massive fee, replaces him with Spanish international for a slightly lower fee, good business! Except there’s nothing Madrid needs less than another right-footed left forward.

• Sport says Barcelona’s top priority this summer is… Luis Diaz? Good player, but teams with financial crises should not be paying big transfer fees for 28-year-olds, ever.

• Several journofluencers got the same message from the agent of Martin Baturina, who looks set to leave Dinamo Zagreb for a big league club this summer. Eintracht Frankfurt is the team currently in most advanced talks, and he’ll cost around €20m. Interesting all-around playmaking midfielder whose radars look a bit wonky, because he’s split time between 8 and 10. But his passing and assist numbers hold up in Champions League, which is a good sign.

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