Arsenal have signed several players from Chelsea in recent years, with Mikel Arteta seemingly intent on picking up unwanted talent from the West London club.
This recruitment policy from the Gunners has become something of a joke in the wider football community, although it’s a reasonable approach to take given the surplus of players at Stamford Bridge.
Noni Madueke is the latest to have made the switch from Chelsea to Arsenal, signing for a fee in the region of £52 million earlier this month.
Kepa Arrizabalaga also completed the same move this summer, joining the North Londoners for £5 million.
The move from SW6 to N5 is only likely to become more prominent in the coming years, and Arsenal may already be plotting their next swoop for a potential Chelsea outcast.
Jorrel Hato should be Arsenal’s next purchase from Chelsea
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Jorrel Hato.
The Dutch defender is understood to be keen on the move, with negotiations between the Blues and Ajax ongoing.
Hato will join a bloated Enzo Maresca squad that already boasts the likes of Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella, all of whom operate in the sorts of areas the Ajax man plays in.
It’s very plausible that the 19-year-old isn’t given the minutes he needs to continue developing and is ultimately left on the periphery of Chelsea’s ensemble in the next 12 to 18 months.
This would give Arsenal the opportunity to swoop in and make a move for the talented teenager, who has been on the Gunners’ radar for some time now.
Arsenal Insider revealed back in March that ‘nobody knows more about’ Hato than Arsenal and that the club are very keen on the player.
Ultimately, Takehiro Tomiyasu’s departure forced the North London outfit to strengthen the right-hand side of their defence rather than the left this summer.
However, in a year or so, with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior’s futures up in the air, it’s possible that the Gunners will need a left-sided defender and Hato is the exact sort of profile who would suit Arteta’s squad.
Jorrel Hato can be Gabriel Magalhaes’ long-term replacement
While Hato has played the majority of his minutes in recent times in Amsterdam at left-back, his long-term future lies at the centre of defence.
He shares similar abilities to Myles Lewis-Skelly regarding his in-possession attributes, although his frame and size differ from the Hale End star.
Exceptional at sweeping up danger that leaks behind a defence, good in the air and robust when dealing with physical forwards, Hato’s ceiling as a centre-back is much higher than as a left-back.
Gabriel will turn 28 in December, and thus, the Gunners will need to replace the Brazilian at some point in the next three or four years.
By that point, Hato will still be young but should have experience plying his trade in the Premier League, and he could become the most appealing Gabriel replacement on the market for Arsenal.
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