Jorrel Hato named Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year 2024/’25
Jorrel Hato has been crowned Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year 2024/’25 at the Eredivisie Awards. The 19-year-old Ajax defender was chosen as the league’s top emerging talent by the 18 Eredivisie head coaches and the national team coach.
Hato was selected from a shortlist that included Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Jakob Breum (Go Ahead Eagles), Givairo Read (Feyenoord), and Luciano Valente. These five players were nominated based on Opta performance data and KPN Man of the Match votes. In collaboration with Coaches Betaald Voetbal, the coaches ultimately selected Hato as the standout young player of the season.
Over the course of the Eredivisie season, Hato featured in 31 matches — starting in 30 of them. He impressed across the board: 36 successful tackles, 22 interceptions, 90% passing accuracy, 2 goals and 6 assists
As part of the award, Hato will also have the opportunity — with support from the Johan Cruyff Foundation and VriendenLoterij — to build his own Cruyff Court at a location of his choice. This gives more children and young people the chance to play, grow, and develop their talents through sport.
In previous seasons, the Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year award went to Johan Bakayoko (2023/’24), Xavi Simons (2022/’23), Jurriën Timber (2021/’22), Ryan Gravenberch (2020/’21), and Angeliño (2018/’19).
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