Talk of Chelsea’s interest in Jorrel Hato is moving quickly. On Friday night, Sky Sports dropped the news that the Blues were “making a move” to sign the Ajax defender, and that’s backed up what sources in Holland are saying.

Ajax and Chelsea ready to progress Hato talks from informal to serious

Voetbal Niews say that Ajax have “previously held talks with Chelsea” about a transfer for the 19 year old, “months ago.” Back in January we reported on Ben Jacobs’ claims that we were in the mix for the teenage defender.

They say that Ajax technical director Alex Kroes has already spoken to someone at Chelsea about the move in an “informal meeting”. That was as far as things got, but they expect new contacts soon:

“There is a good chance that [Chelsea] will sit soon down with Ajax,” they conclude. Valued at €30m by Transfermarkt, we’ve already speculated he would go for a lot more than that, given his age, experience and pedigree.

Where Hato fits compared to other top defensive targets

So where does Hato land in comparison to our other top defensive targets this summer? The names mentioned most often at the back have been Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi. We wonder if Hato is considered an alternate to those players, or someone we’re targeting as well as them.

It’s hard to see us signing two expensive defenders in one summer, especially given how many players we already have on the books at the back. On the other hand, Hato’s ability to play at left back almost puts him in a different category to the other two, who are pure centre-backs.

We will have to wait for more detailed information from some of the top insiders in the future.