Liverpool has had a quiet January transfer window. There has been nothing in the way of signings, and even speculation has been fairly thin on the ground — but with little under a week left, Jorrel Hato has emerged as an apparent target.
According to TeamTalk, Liverpool has been considering Hato for the summer, amid continued uncertainty around the future of Virgil van Dijk. But with Chelsea and Real Madrid also making inquiries over the player, the move could be brought up to January.
It's even been claimed that Hato was spotted at Anfield during the win over Ipswich, although that has not been verified. But who exactly is the Ajax defender?
Capable of playing center-back or left-back, Hato is an 18-year-old from Rotterdam. Coming through the Sparta Rotterdam ranks as a child, he moved into the famed Ajax youth system as he entered his teenage years.
Standing 6"0 (1.82m) tall, Hato has long been able to hold his own in the first team, making his debut in 2023 — the year after he signed his first professional Ajax contract as a 16-year-old. He has already amassed 92 first-team appearances: 52 at left-back and 39 at center-back.
It is claimed that Arne Slot admires this versatility. While a transfer for Hato is reportedly being weighed up in light of the Van Dijk contract situation, his ability to deputize for (and potentially succeed) Andy Robertson is presumably also an appealing factor.
Hato earned his first cap for the Netherlands in November 2023, replacing Van Dijk against Gibraltar. He has gone on to make four more appearances for the national team.
This season, he has been used almost exclusively as a left-back at club level. He has shown his proficiency in that role, notching two goals and five assists in 17 league outings.
Yet to wear the captain's armband during the current campaign, he donned it on a couple of occasions last season — in the absence of a certain Jordan Henderson. The former Liverpool skipper could no doubt be talking up the merits of an Anfield transfer.
However, Chelsea and Real Madrid are both said to have "prepared the ground" for a Hato move ahead of the summer. The Blues in particular continue to struggle in defense, having recalled Trevor Chalobah from loan this month in a bid to find a solution.
But Liverpool has supposedly been tracking the defender for a long time. It is weighing up an early bid, with $31.5m (£25m/€30m) likely to be enough to facilitate a January transfer.
Hato was named as the 12th-best wonderkid in world football on Goal's 2024 NXGN list. That write-up praised his confidence on the ball and ability to read the game.
Liverpool.com says: The mooted transfer fee looks pretty reasonable for a player who has been touted so highly. Liverpool could be fairly confident of not making a loss, with even a poor spell at Anfield unlikely to knock his value (just look at Ryan Gravenberch, on whom Bayern Munich more than doubled its money).
And there's no reason to think that Hato would struggle at Liverpool. He would certainly be filling a need in terms of his ability to play at left-back, and some extra cover in the middle would not go amiss either.
