Arsenal and Manchester City will take a look at Ajax youngster Jorrel Hato sooner rather than later if he continues his impressive rise in the Dutch side’s first team.
That’s according to journalist Suleyman Öztürk, who believes the defender will have big clubs lining up for him before too long.
Hato is establishing himself in the Ajax first team this season after being handed his debut by interim boss Johnny Heitinga in February aged just 16 years and 10 months.
He’s started all of their 12 Eredivisie games so far as well as their qualification games for the Europa League and their four group games as well.
He’s very much been the bright spark in an otherwise disastrous season for the Dutch giants, with many predicting a big future for the 17-year-old based on what they’ve seen so far.
It’s unlikely that his performances won’t have gone unnoticed by the big clubs in Europe, who have regularly plundered Ajax for their top talents over the years, with the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Mathijs de Ligt and Jurrien Timber all making big exits in recent years.
The latter ended up at Arsenal after impressing from an early age and Öztürk believes they, alongside Manchester City, will be looking at Hato sooner rather than later.
“The calm he maintains during his goal shows that he comes from a certain education,” he said.
“He reminds me a bit of Jurriën Timber when he has the ball. The ease with which he plays football, and he is not too tall. He is not a colossus of a defender, but based on his technique he knows how to move effortlessly.
“His speed of action is high, and he passes so cleanly. He makes almost no mistakes when in possession of the ball.
“If he continues to develop like this, Arsenal and Manchester City will also take a look. It represents a value of one hundred million euros. Maybe he will become the first player that Ajax sells for more than €100m.”
