Ajax 'working on new deal for Arsenal-linked Jorrel Hato'

The teenager was born nearly two full years after the Gunners' most recent Premier League title triumph, but despite his inexperience, he is already a nailed-on starter for Ajax most weeks.

Hato joined the Ajax youth system in 2018 and rapidly rose through the youth ranks owing to his striking potential, and he has already played 49 times for the senior squad in all competitions.

Hato has one goal and three assists to show from those matches — netting once and setting up two more strikes in the current Eredivisie campaign, in which he has started all 23 of their contests.

The 2006-born defender also completed every minute of Ajax's Europa League group-stage campaign, and he has remarkably donned the captain's armband on three occasions for John van 't Schip's side, including in the weekend's 2-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar.

Hato is unsurprisingly the youngest-ever player to captain Ajax, and the Dutchman — who already stands at 6ft tall — bagged an assist on his Netherlands debut in a 6-0 Euro 2024 qualifying thrashing of Gibraltar last November.

Primarily a centre-back, Hato is also comfortable on the left-hand side of the rearguard and has inevitably attracted glances from European heavyweights, namely Premier League title-chasers Arsenal.

Ajax only have the 17-year-old under contract until 2025, meaning that the faltering Eredivisie giants could be pressured into a summer sale if no new terms are agreed in the coming months.

However, the Evening Standard reports that Ajax are doing their utmost to tie their highly-rated academy product down to a new deal, which would include a pay rise to