Jorrel Hato chosen as Johan Cruijff Talent of the Month for August
17-year-old Jorrel Hato has his first Eredivisie award to hand: of all the players aged 21 or under since the start of the season, he performed best in August. It earns Hato his first Johan Cruijff Talent of the Month award.
The central defender started both games in the starting eleven, completed the 180 playing minutes, won with Ajax over Heracles Almelo (4-1) and drew against Excelsior Rotterdam (2-2). No Ajax player had more intercepts (3) or won tackles (4) in these two games than Jorrel Hato, who also captured possession of the ball most often of all Ajax players (18 times).
Compared to all other players in the Eredivisie, his passing the ball stands out in particular. Of the players with at least 60% playing time, Jorrel Hato (94.1%) had the highest pass accuracy on the opponent's half, after Anas Tahari (94.6%). In addition, only Dávid Hancko and Lutsharel Geertruida had more successful passes than Hato (180), while Hato did achieve the highest average per game (90 per game).
Jorrel Hato remained ahead of Casper Widell (Excelsior Rotterdam) and Johan Bakayoko (PSV), among others, in the monthly election. As part of the selection, Hato will receive a cheque for €2,500 on behalf of the Friends Lottery, for his former amateur club IJVV De Zwervers. Hato started his football career at the Rotterdam amateur club, before joining Ajax via Sparta Rotterdam's youth academy. In addition, his selection netted €5,000 to boost social projects of the Johan Cruijff Foundation.
The award was presented by ESPN presenter Cristian Willaert.
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