The Important Reason Why Arsenal Must Secure Jorrel Hato's Signing!

Arsenal and Dutch players and the Dutch way of playing football simply put is a match made in heaven. Throughout the years, Arsenal have had plenty of Dutch players. Growing up as someone that was born in 1995, for me it was all about Dennis Bergkamp. As much as obviously Arsenal are an English club, you know, following Arsene Wenger and the image of what Arsene Wenger has put at this football club, it quickly became a hallmark of French football, having a French influence. Again, the Thierry Henrys, the Wiltords, the Patrick Vieiras will be here all day, people. And when you look at it, you know, there is a man that whether you're Dutch, French, whatever have you, Spanish, you know, when you look at someone like Johan Cruyff, who influenced indirectly Arsene Wenger and Arsenal's way of football, obviously Barcelona and current manager Mikel Arteta. You can see at Ajax in Spain with Barcelona and Arsenal football club, the way these clubs look at football, view the principles, there's a lot of intangibles that all of them consist of people. So I have to ask the question, why not continue this trend where Dutch players are concerned by seeking the next rising star of Dutch football? As we know, people, Dutch footballers, Ajax footballers in particular, they're very cultured and they're very good in a technical sense. And again, where Arsenal are concerned, it's a match made in heaven. Step forward, 18-year-old Dutchman, Gerald Hatto. There's rumours of Arsenal's interest reappearing in the last few weeks. As we know, Arsenal have chased him for the best part of a year. He was linked with us in January. In his first full senior campaign off the back of last season, currently in 2023-24, the teenager has made more appearances and played more minutes than any of his teammates, despite the club, Ajax, enduring their worst start to a season since 1965. And I know whether you're Muslim, Christian, whatever religion, all of the holy books talk about greed and greed is negative. In a footballing sense, I want to be greedy. Could you imagine having Hatto, Benjamin White, Gabriel, Saliba and Jürgen Timber, a former teammate and fellow countryman, as our defensive options? We would be laughing people and we would have serious pillars of this team for years to come. I love the centre-half, you know, long-term centre-half currently playing at left-back. I love this 18-year-old. There's so many things I could sit here and say I like about him. And I think, you know, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will as well. The first has to be he's mature beyond his ages. Don't get it twisted. You know, you can see he's an 18-year-old man. We'll get onto that. But his maturity is beyond his ages. The man's captain Ajax at 18 years of age. I'm a big fan of his temperament, his ability to play in a couple of roles in the back line, his passing range, his reading of the game, his commitment to wanting to get better and improve as a footballer, people. The man himself is, you know, he has a great mentality and is not afraid to speak. But he himself has said, I need to become a better communicator on the pitch, people. So he's someone that relishes responsibility and that thrives in high-pressure environments. Pressure to play for Ajax or Arsenal or any top club. It firmly is that, people. He's got a serious, you know, high level of technical ability in his game, a quality that's going to make you a very popular player in Dutch football. As a defender, he can dribble, he can pass, he can see the game from the defensive line. Excluding that, he still shows the talent of a great traditional defender. He's strong in defence, has good vision, good passing. He likes to build attacks from the defensive line. And he also exhibits impressive speed and notable ability to cover vital spaces where, again, when you look at a Mikel Arteta system, with our high line, with how high our defenders are, he ties into exactly what we want. You know, he can be a pillar in terms of connecting defence to midfield, ultimately to attack. He's obviously got the physical robustness and the intelligence for us to play in the high line. So obviously, if a team breaks, to get out of certain situations, people. His knack for breaking defensive lines, as well as covering vital space, once again, are amazing. He can carry the ball forward. It would make him an asset in Arsenal's team build-up phase. He excels in aerial play, although admittedly, the man himself has said he can't improve defensively. You know, for me, he displays exceptional anticipation in all of his defensive actions for someone who is so young people. He's the desired product of any people that hope to mimic Ajax's way of football, have intangibles with the way Ajax develop players, people, and their total football approach. Technically brilliant, with not just great ball-playing ability, but defensive intelligence, which obviously enables him to hold his own around the box. He takes his time and avoids lunging into challenges, people. I think he can improve at this, but I personally have a bias to front-foot defenders. I like aggressiveness, and I think he's got the blend of that. He's very much an aggressive front-footed defender, a bit like Timba. Again, people, him being able to show stellar anticipation skills enables him, ultimately, despite his young age, to stay one step ahead of opposing attackers and, at times, intercept dangerous passes. It also has enabled him, as well as everything else, to be one of the first names on the team sheet. He's got a top-notch footballing IQ, people. What is there not to like? The man oozes composure. He's progressive. He's technically adaptable to whatever a manager demands. He thrives in high-pressure environments. He's an excellent ball carrier. I believe he's 5'11", so he's obviously got height. Despite his height, typically the taller the player, the less technical, low centre of gravity they are. He's got all of that. He's got quick feet, great first touch, great close control, and he's a versatile footballer. He's also good at dribbling in tight spaces. He's completely different in many senses to Giroud and Timba, but there's so many intangibles, people. His technical ability and creativity from deep position makes him the perfect candidate for a team who play with inverted full-backs, which is us, and overlapping centre-halves. Long-term, the man will be a centre-half, but you can see and paint a picture of why Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have been linked with this player. He also is not afraid to push into midfield, people. Technically sublime, possessing a footballing IQ that is beyond his tenure years, has no issues breaking lines and relishes pushing into midfield in his build-up play. At a point in the Eredivisie, he had a 94% passing accuracy, and he was also at a point averaging over five progressive passes per 90 minutes, which again reflects his ability to carry the ball and displays this even more impressive. Coupled that with a calmness and coolness and calculatedness under pressure, for me he is perfect. Since getting his break at the back end of the 2022-23 season, people, after enjoying a few cameo appearances off the campaign, he would end up starting Ajax's final six Eredivisie games with nothing to play for. By then, Feyenoord had already wrapped up the league title and Ajax's apologies started bleeding and breading a couple of young players. Fast forward to this season, obviously, as I said earlier, Ajax had one of their and are currently undergoing one of their worst potential seasons in Ajax's history. They also had to deal with the departures of Mohamed Kudus and Alvarez, as well as timber people. They also had a number of players arriving, so it was a turbulent period for Ajax. He was able to thrive, a bit like how we've seen Saka Martinelli, Smith Rowe and a few young players thrive in a chaotic period at our very own football club, people. Because of those changes, there was a spot freed up in the back line and Hatto's taking his chance, people, from pre-season up until the open up for the Eredivisie campaign against Heracles. Forgive me for mispronunciation. Please allow me. I'm a footballing man, you know, I'm not a pronunciation don. But yeah, people, he was at the heart of defence. And again, he's just taken, you know, he's been given the ball in a metaphorical sense in terms of getting football and he's running with it, people. He's absolutely running with it. Since then, he's become indispensable for Ajax and a player that fans look to, you know, to display everything they want. And the fact that he's 18 years of age says it all, people. And also, we've got to remember, there was a lot of turbulence on the pitch at Ajax but also off it, you know. As you would have seen, over Mars, missing intact, these people departed. In October, Ajax were in the relegation zone and he has been a bright spark in a clouded season, people. Of course, there's a lot he still has to learn, people, when to bring the ball forward, when to overplay, when to keep it simple. Physically, probably needs to improve a bit. But again, he's 18, he's going through puberty, so that's probably just a natural by-product, people. And again, for me, all of these things show the way he can play forward-thinking football in the modern-day footballness, coupled with he's very much the modern-day defender, the man's got a bright future ahead of him. He's a great professional. Those that look around Ajax say he's very serious in training, he trains well, he takes care of himself and he's an example, a model example to younger players within the Ajax system, people. Defensively, there's a lot to like about his game too, but there are naturally things he needs to improve, people. And again, there's a lot to like about him. At a point, he only had three bookings in the Eredivisie, only making five fouls, which a bit like Saliba and what Gabriel is learning, when to lunge in, when not to, people. As a defender, your last option should actually be to make a tackle. You should be the game before that. So again, there's so much to like about him. Again, you go back into 2022, he actually did say he needs to improve his defensive heading. He did say he could improve his passing as well, people. His one-v-one defending is good for me, but it could improve just a bit, people, in terms of fine-tuning. Apparently, only around half of his attempted tackles ended in success in this season, currently up until a point where data suggests. Once again, he's a young man. He's still developing physically. His body is still not fully developed, which again, to add that element of upper body strength and to be able to hold off attackers and whatnot and be more dominant in defensive situations and in aerial drills, a bit of that will have to wait because he's still filling out into his game, people. He's got a great jumping ability. He's got a great leap on him as well. So if he adds all of this, keeps improving and obviously gets a bit more physically robust, he's made for the Premier League. He'd need to be given time to adjust and whatnot. And that's actually the biggest thing I would say. If I was Hatto, I'm sure you want to make the move to the Premier League. I'm sure you're seeing what Timba's done. I'm sure you've dreamed of stuff. Ajax will let you go for the right money. Obviously, Arsenal have a good relationship with Ajax, but I do think in this day and age, if you're 16, 17, 18 and you've had a half-decent season, you get picked up for multi-million pounds to other clubs. Now, I'm not saying Arsenal won't utilise him, but how many 18-year-olds are playing week in, week out in a top-five division, much less captaining their team? And at 18, the move will happen. If he joined Arsenal Football Club, there'll probably be an element of slightly reduced game time. Again, you've got Timba competing at left-back. You've got Tomi Asu who can play over there. Obviously, I think he's a centre-half long-term. Hopefully, Gabriel and Saliba are not going anywhere anytime soon. So you'd face a fight. And that's actually good because we'd give him time to adapt to what we're doing, people. I do think there's been points this season where his consistency has been up and down and had some low points. But generally, for the good part, for an 18-year-old, he's been consistent for, in my opinion, 90%, which even more experienced players struggle. We've seen Saka, Mohamed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne. You can't be amazing for every game of every season. So naturally, you have to give him that. Obviously, one thing that could be a spanner in the works would be the fact that he recently signed a new deal with Ajax, which obviously weakens Arsenal's negotiating hands and strengthens Ajax in terms of keeping him, people. In two years from now, a year from now, even a week, Ajax will spawn another player. Ajax have shown themselves as a club that bring through the Dutch players. We've got Timba. We hope to get Hatto. Obviously, they seek players from abroad. They sold Anthony Lull to Man United for a hundred-odd million quid. Arteta did try to buy Timba's one-time centre-half in Lisandro Martinez. So again, they know what they're doing and I'm sure they wouldn't want to lose him. Would he want to make the moves before the Euros? I don't know if he'll be a key player in the Euro squad for Holland because despite his season, you've got Van Dijk, Ake and all of these players, but no doubt he'll be on the plane and get selected. If he was a stock, it's like Bitcoin. It's an appreciating asset, people. I do think, going back to the previous point, stability is an underrated aspect in football. He's young. He does not necessarily need to make the move at the moment. He's playing week in, week out and getting experience. Some Ajax fans said even Timba, even though he probably stayed a bit longer than expected, said at the time he wasn't ready to make the move. Obviously, he has. For me, for what it's worth, I'm a big fan of Hatto. I would love him at the club. Let me know your thoughts on the young Dutchman. Do you think he could come in and do a job at centre-half as well as left-back? Do you think we should actually forget the young project and sign some more proven players? Let me know in the comments, people. For now, don't forget to comment, like, subscribe, check out the rest of the content, people. Stay safe, stay blessed. Appreciative of you lot tuned in. Peace.