Chelsea hailed for signing “great player” who is “one of the best” – it’s not Estevao or Gittens | OneFootball

Erik ten Hag is a bit of a funny bloke, but he had some nice words about a player he knows well after last night’s friendly, where his Bayer Leverkusen team were blown away by Chelsea.

The former Man U manager was asked about Jorrel Hato, who emerged at Ajax shortly after Ten Hag departed for Old Trafford.

Ten Hag hails Chelsea for signing “one of the best”

“For sure [I know about him]. I told him [on the pitch before the game] I bet he regrets that he missed me at Ajax because they didn’t win the titles in the past couple of years!” Ten Hag said in quotes picked up by the BBC.

“The moment I left, he came in but he developed and progressed so well. He was one of the best, maybe the best player in the Eredivisie. He is so young but already on a very high level. You always need some time, but he has a very good mentality and then he can progress really quickly. He has all the elements, all the skills in his game to prove he can be a very successful player.

“I am very sure he will succeed at Chelsea. I congratulate Chelsea for signing this great player.”

“You will see” – Ten Hag backs hybrid role for Hato

Jorrel Hato with a Chelsea news logo. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

In last night’s game we saw Hato come in to replace Marc Cucurella at left back, rather than playing centrally int the gap left by the injured Levi Colwill.

That has convinced us that Chelsea just see him as a left full back who can invert into midfield, rather than a centre back. But Ten Hag things he will be used more in the centre than we might think:

“He can do both, you will see,” the coach said.