Chelsea scout: Summer signing shouldn't have played regularly per initial plan
In this story:
Chelsea scout Seyi Olofinjana said the club initially did not plan to put Jorrel Hato under a lot of first-team pressure in his first season.
Hato has already made three starts for Chelsea this season, including two in their last three games.
The most interesting part is that the last two starts were as a centre-back, rather than his natural position at left back.
This is obviously due to the lack of centre-back options at Chelsea amid injury problems concerning Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Wesley Fofana.
Given that Trevoh Chalobah will also miss Liverpool's visit to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, there is a good chance that Hato will have to play as a centre-back again in that game.
Blues scout Olofinjana, however, said that this was not the initial plan.
"Losing (Colwill), Jorrel Hato coming, they brought him as a potential understudy, then (he) begins to play probably in a year or so," the former Wolves midfielder told Super Sports, as reported by All Nigeria Soccer.
To be fair, Hato already played as a regular starter for Ajax in the last two seasons. So, he is not exactly new to high pressure.
That said, playing in the Premier League and the Eredivisie are not the same thing, either.
What we know for sure is that Maresca has a lot of faith in the young defender, having previously predicted him to be a "top player" for Chelsea.
As much as it could put him under too much pressure, the acceleration in the plan for him could also prove beneficial to Hato's progress in general.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.