“Here we go” – Fabrizio Romano makes €40m+ Chelsea transfer official with late night update | OneFootball

This morning, well connected Chelsea reporter Ben Jacobs wrote that the Blues were 24 to 48 hours away from sealing a deal for Jorrel Hato.

Well, it’s taken even less time than that – Fabrizio Romano has swooped in with a late night “here we go,” meaning the deal is done and just needs to be announced.

Romano insists that the personal terms were already agreed “ten days ago,” and that they cover a contract until June 2032 with an option for another year. It’s assumed this is a unilateral club option.

Chelsea move fast to secure their top option

The deal has really gone rather smoothly. The personal terms were sorted almost instantly, and even this negotiation over his price only seemed to take a week or so. Ajax wanted €50m, we wanted to pay €40m – in the end, as always, you meet somewhere in the middle with bonuses and add-ons being the real variables in the equation.

It’s more impressive work from the transfer team, who have ticked off another position where depth and upgrades were needed.

Hato ready, willing and able to be a Veiga upgrade

Renato Veiga shortly after signing for Chelsea.

It’s going to be really interesting to see how Hato fits in at Chelsea. A year ago we were signing Renato Veiga, unsure how he would be used. As it turned out, despite his centre back pedigree (which is ultimately what has led him to want to leave to play more in that position) the club saw him as a perfect left sided defender option – a full back, but only in a system like the one Chelsea are using under Enzo Maresca.

Hato can play the same role, and take the same position in the squad – he just appears to be an upgrade on Veiga in terms of his ceiling.