Erik ten Hag rates Chelsea star: ‘He was the best player in the league’

The Blues completed a £37 million transfer for Jorrel Hato from Ajax last weekend, and the 19-year-old made his debut under Enzo Maresca in a 2-0 pre-season victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Friday evening.

With six senior appearances for the Netherlands already under his belt, Hato is considered one of the brightest talents emerging from Dutch football.

Ten Hag, formerly in charge at Ajax and now managing Leverkusen, described Hato as the standout performer in the Eredivisie and believes his mindset will serve him well in the Premier League.

‘For sure, he misses me at Ajax because they didn’t win the titles in the last couple of years! But the moment I left he came in he developed and progressed so good that now Chelsea picked him up,’ Ten Hag said.

‘For sure he was one of the best, or maybe the best player, in the Eredivisie.

‘He’s so young but already on a very high level. I’m very sure he will succeed at Chelsea.

‘You need some time but he has a very good mentality and then he can progress really quickly because he has the potential because he has all the elements in his game to prove he can be a very successful player.’

Asked if he views Hato more as a centre-back than a left-back, Ten Hag said: ‘He can do both. You will see he is capable of doing both.

‘I congratulate Chelsea by signing this great player.’

When asked if he believes Chelsea are capable of winning the Premier League this campaign, Ten Hag said: ‘I think so.

‘You always have to see how the season develops and there is a lot about injuries, but they have a big squad.

‘All the teams you see they invest so much in the Premier League in this transfer window. There are many teams who can, in this moment, construct a very good team, then it’s about who is in the right shape, who is in the right direction.

‘It is very difficult to say in this moment who is favourite because I think five or six in this moment are able to win the league.’