‘Closing in’ – David Ornstein has the transfer news every Chelsea fan wants

Last week, ESPN.nl reported that Ajax had rejected a bid from Chelsea for left-back Jorrel Hato. It was said the Dutch club “don’t want to let him go without a fight.”

This week though, David Ornstein says that a deal for the 19-year-old is almost done.

The Athletic reporter claims Chelsea are “closing in” on signing Hato. The Dutchman has already agreed to personal terms with the Blues, but there is no agreement between the clubs. 

It’s not clear how far off Chelsea were from Ajax’s asking price last week. Ornstein believes the Blues will end up paying “more than €40 million” and that the deal will be done in the next few days. 

Hato broke into the Ajax first team as a 16-year old in January 2023. Since then, he has made 111 appearances for De Godenzonen in all competitions. He has also earned six caps with the senior Dutch national team. 

If signed for around €40m, Hato would become the joint-tenth most expensive player in Eredivisie history, level with Jurrien Timber’s deal that brought him to Arsenal in 2023 and Hakim Ziyech’s move to Chelsea in 2020.

Once at Chelsea —if this deal goes through— Hato will likely serve as Marc Cucurella’s backup. He’s also played at center-back and very occasionally as a right-back. 

Chelsea not done spending

Once completed, the Hato deal will bring Chelsea’s summer transfer spending up to €283m (per transfermarkt). Liverpool are the only club in the world who have spent more than Enzo Maresca’s side. That might be the case for much longer though. 

Chelsea are still pushing hard to sign RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons and Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho. 

According to Ben Jacobs, Chelsea are preparing a formal offer for Simons and that talks have accelerated over the past few days. 

Fabrizio Romano, meanwhile, said this week that there is a concrete possibility that Chelsea sign both Garnacho and Simons this window. However, he added that Simons is the priority and that Garnacho would be dealt with later in the summer. 

Manchester United have reportedly slashed their asking price and could be willing to let him go for around €50m. Whether Chelsea want to pay that is another question, but it seems like it would be a relatively straightforward transfer. 

Simons could be a bit more complicated. Most reports say that Leipzig want at least €70m for the Dutch international, but Chelsea seem unwilling to go over €50m. 

The Blues usually end up paying whatever it takes to get their targets. After spending so much money already this summer, though, it will be interesting to see if they are willing to spend big on a midfielder they arguably don’t need.