What Ajax coaches told Liverpool target Jorrel Hato about Virgil van Dijk is intriguing

It seems ridiculous to think of what life without Virgil van Dijk might look like.

The Rolls-Royce of a defender is arguably back to his best-ever form in a Liverpool shirt having helped the Reds maintain the best defensive record in the Premier League.

Arne Slot’s outfit has conceded only eight goals in the English top-flight in 2024/25 – only Manchester United and Nottingham Forest come close after that with 13 conceded.

The Dutchman’s contract is, of course, still set to expire in 2025, though the expectation is that the club will look to hold on to him beyond that date.

Have Liverpool identified a successor?

Fans will understandably raise their brows at that question given that Liverpool-linked Jorrel Hato has played exclusively as a left-back this term.

Nonetheless, it can’t be ignored that the Dutchman already has significant experience filing out at centre-back (in a similar mould to Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori).

As a left-sided centre-back, who is evidently trusted to compete at left-back, that would potentially put him in line to succeed one of Andy Robertson or our Dutch captain.

Judging by Jacob Whitehead’s description of the 18-year-old’s playing style, however, we’d judge him to be more Joel Matip-esque at this current point in time.

“He is extremely quick and comfortable enough in large spaces to play a high line,” Jacob Whitehead wrote in The Athletic’s Transfer Radar.

“One area he ios working on is his one-vs-one duels and he has rapidly improved, with an impressive tackle success rate.

“Unsurprisingly for an Ajax academy graduate, his super-skill is ball progression, through carrying and distributing. A trademark pass is his straight lofted through ball – honed in Ajax’s under-17s, when coaches challenged him to break the lines differently – but he will also frequently run with the ball into midfield if opponents sit off.”

Jorrel Hato told to model himself on Virgil van Dijk

It’s worth pointing out from the off that Arsenal do have a stronger link to the Ajax academy graduate than Liverpool.

That said, it can’t hurt our cause to have the footballer’s coaches request that the teenager model himself on Virgil van Dijk’s game.

“Though coaches have always asked him to watch Virgil van Dijk, his mentor growing up was [Jurrien] Timber, who is now at Arsenal but was his first defensive partner at Ajax and taught him the value of composure in possession,” Whitehead wrote.

As the reporter in question noted earlier, the Gunners’ addition of Riccardo Calafiori makes the potential pursuit of Hato ‘unlikely’.

Ultimately, of course, if ‘composure in possession’ remains a treasured value for the defender – he should look no further than Mr Calm and Collected in our No.4.

It just remains to be seen when the player will be ready to leave the comfort of his immediate surroundings.

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