Chelsea are heating up their summer transfer business with talks underway to sign both Jorrel Hato and Xavi Simons from Ajax and RB Leipzig respectively.
The Blues opened talks with Ajax on Wednesday for Hato, football.london understands, with the west Londoners looking to bolster their defensive options ahead of the new season. As reported last week, Chelsea have been considering making a move for the 19-year-old defender, who also has interest from Premier League champions Liverpool, and they have now reached out over a possible switch to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have initiated contact with the Netherlands international’s entourage over personal terms and there is a hope they can be agreed with relative ease. Hato will provide Enzo Maresca with another option in the centre of defence and the Dutchman can also be used at left-back to help ease the burden somewhat on Marc Cucurella, who registered more than 5000 minutes in total for club and country over the recently-concluded 2024/25 season.
Elsewhere, the Blues are more advanced on the Simons front. Chelsea opened talks with the 22-year-old’s representatives on Monday and an agreement over personal terms is now said to be very close, football.london understands. The Dutch attacker was an avid follower of the west Londoners when growing up and almost joined the club as a child after a trial at Cobham. Chelsea have since started direct talks with RB Leipzig over a move for Simons as the two clubs look to strike a deal.
Where do these two players fit in at Stamford Bridge, I hear you ask? Chelsea already have plenty of attacking options and also have a wealth of defenders in their arsenal. Below, football.london takes a look at how Maresca could get both Hato and Simons into an XI:
Chelsea XI with Hato and Simons
Levi Colwill is primarily a left-sided centre-back but the England international does have experience of playing on the right side of a defensive pairing. Not much, but if Chelsea wanted to use Hato as a centre-back, then this might be the way to go. Alternatively, the Dutchman could play as a left-back whenever Cucurella is unavailable or should the Spaniard need a rest.
Hato is a fine ball carrier and he can do that from either one of these positions. The teenager has a fearlessness with the ball; something he has learned via Ajax’s infamous academy, as revealed in an interview with The Athletic last year: “If you play at the Ajax academy, you always get that bravery the coaches tell you to play with.
“It’s one of my qualities to dribble past players and create a chance. There needs to be space to do it, but if there is space, I will always try to look forward to that.”
In attack, the Blues are blessed with options. While Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho have already departed, and the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Armando Broja, Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix could all follow suit, there have been multiple additions at Stamford Bridge as well.
Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian will all come into this new-look Chelsea squad for the 2025/26 season. And Simons could soon join them.
One of the multiple reasons Chelsea are interested in Simons is because he can play virtually anywhere across the final third. Naturally a No.10, the Dutchman can also shift to the left wing and has even been used on the right side occasionally. The left wing, though, is where he might get the most minutes in this Chelsea setup.
Gittens will need time to settle at Stamford Bridge and Simons could benefit the winger in doing just that. Likewise, we could see Joao Pedro used on the left at times during the season but if the FIFA Club World Cup is anything to go by, then Maresca plans on using the Brazilian down the middle of the pitch.
Possible Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Colwill, Hato, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Neto, Palmer, Simons; Joao Pedro.
Options not included: Jorgensen, Gusto, Tosin, Chalobah, Badiashile, Acheampong, Lavia, Essugo, Santos, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Delap, Jackson, Estevao, Gittens.
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