Jorrel Hato has been speaking about his excitement about working with incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, who will take over at Stamford Bridge at the beginning of July
17:00, 20 May 2026
Jorrel Hato applauds
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Jorrel Hato applauds the Chelsea supporters after the win over Tottenham(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
Jorrel Hato is "excited" for Xabi Alonso to take over as Chelsea manager in July and believes the club made the correct decision in appointing the Spaniard.
Alonso was confirmed as the Blues' new gaffer at the weekend, signing a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge. The 44-year-old will not begin his role until July 1, but the Chelsea dressing room are already looking forward to working with the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder.
Hato agrees with the club's decision to bring Alonso in this summer. Speaking after Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Tuesday evening, the Netherlands international said: "I think Chelsea made a good decision to get Xabi Alonso. I'm excited, I knew him as a player and watched him growing up at Liverpool and Real Madrid.
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"He did very well at Leverkusen too, and they became champions, and he was at Madrid. He's a big name, so I'm very excited.
"I've played in a back three and a back four, for me I don't care about where I want to play. I just want to play."
Chelsea's win over Spurs, which ensured their rivals go into Sunday's final round of fixtures still in danger of relegation, was their first in more than two months in the Premier League - ending a seven-match winless run.
Hato referenced some difficult conversations behind the scenes among the under-performing squad.
"We've gone through a difficult time, we lost two managers and a few games, before this it was two months I think since we won in the league," said the Dutchman.
"We've had a difficult time, and lost the final at the weekend, but today, and in some other games, we've shown that we can play good football and have a good mentality as well.
"Internally, we speak and we've said when it hasn't been good enough, and sometimes we feel we gave enough but missed some finer details to win games."
Hato produced another brilliant performance at the heart of Chelsea's defence on Tuesday, with the standout moment a goal-saving challenge to deny James Maddison what looked like a certain equaliser. After a tricky start to life at Stamford Bridge, the 20-year-old has been excellent since the turn of the year.
So far in 2026, Chelsea have played 30 matches in all competitions and Hato has started 17 of them - establishing himself as a key figure in the defensive line.
"The first couple of months weren't easy, it was a difficult time as a player," admitted Hato, who cost Chelsea £37million from Ajax last summer. "But in the last couple of months, I've felt more myself and I'm showing the quality I showed at Ajax.
"I think I've improved a lot and my confidence is growing now too."
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Hato is in contention to start again on Sunday afternoon with Chelsea going to Sunderland on the final day of the Premier League season, with Europe still on the cards for the Blues.