Chelsea confirm ninth signing of summer transfer window in £37m deal

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Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Jorrel Hato from Ajax with the defender arriving on a seven-year contract.

The Blues agreed a £37million deal with the Dutch club a few days ago after finally making a breakthrough after over a week of negotiations over a fee. Hato will be added to Enzo Maresca's squad as cover and competition for Marc Cucurella, with the club addressing an area they were particularly light in. He can also play in the centre of defence, adding another option for Maresca in that area as well.

Hato has become Chelsea's ninth addition of the summer, with a few signing on pre-contract agreements, after Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Estevao Willian, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr, Mike Penders and Kendry Paez. The Dutchman has moved away from his homeland for the first time after spending seven years with Ajax, and spending time at Sparta Rotterdam's academy before that.

"I'm very excited, I'm so happy to be here," Hato said. "I thought a lot about my future and wanted to take the next step in my career. Chelsea is the best place for me to do that, so I am very happy."

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He continued: "I think I will be a good fit for the way Chelsea are playing, so I was sure about taking my step to Chelsea.

"For sure it was a big decision. I played seven years at Ajax and for me it was home – the people, the players, the coaches, the culture. So it was not easy to leave, but my feeling was that at this moment I needed to make a step to the biggest club in the biggest competitions, and for me this was the right decision at the right time."

Hato had interest from elsewhere in the Premier League, football.london understands, but Chelsea acted fast and decisively - meaning there was no doubt in the Netherlands international's mind over switching to Stamford Bridge.

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