Celtic transfer scouting: Former Ajax kid would bring 'Dutch touch' to Parkhead defence

With the likes of Jong Ajax and Jong PSV playing in the league, the youngsters from those big Dutch clubs get their chance to shine on a big stage and play regularly.

While Celtic look to be settled with their centre-backs for the time being, it is important to scout players and plan for the future.

In this article, we will look at one such player who would be a great fit at Celtic under Ange Postecoglou: Rio Hillen of De Graafschap.

Key details & heatmap

Nationality: Netherlands; Club: De Graafschap; Age: 19; Position: Centre-back; Preferred foot: Left; Height: 6ft 1in.

Hillen has already made five appearances for the Netherlands under-19 national team, with a recent appearance at centre-back in a 2-1 loss to Ukraine.

He was a part of the AZ youth setup before moving to the Ajax academy in 2019. The young centre-back was a part of the Jong Ajax side last season, who finished seventh before moving to De Graafschap this summer.

Hillen plays on the left side of the defence and likes to get out to the midfield third with the ball and progress to the next phase. As you can see from his heatmap above, he is very much involved near the centre line and likes to move higher up when his team’s in possession. This is courtesy of being part of the Ajax setup.

On the ball

As you can see from the data, Hillen is very comfortable on the ball and capable of spraying a variety of passes over the pitch. The young centre-back has an excellent passing range and can go long and short. Hillen averages over 11.8 progressive passes attempted per 90, which is exceptionally high and will be useful for Celtic and Postecoglou.

The 19-year-old’s ability to go long and pick out players making runs off the last man is extremely good. In the above pictures, you can see that the centre-back is offered time and space to get into the opposition half, and he scans an early run from midfield by his teammate Kian Fitz-Jim and clips a well-weighted long ball in behind the defence that eventually leads to a shot for Jong Ajax.

In addition to his long range passing, he is also progressive with his passing and is good at using his left foot to curl over ground balls onto the left flank for full-backs and wingers. Also, his ball progression does not end at passing as he is capable of driving forward and carrying the ball into the opposition half efficiently.

The above images present an example of his ball carrying. Hillen receives the ball in his half, and as the Jong PSV attacker closes him down, he carries the ball centrally into space and chooses to switch play to the right flank with a perfect long-ball before getting closed down by the second Jong PSV attacker.

The switch helped break the compactness in midfield and start an attack for Jong Ajax. While he is not a consistent ball carrier, he has the ability to carry under press and uses his upper body strength to keep balance and control. The only negative with his passing is that he can get casual at times and play risky and loose passes from his defensive third.

Also, the young Dutch is good at playing the ball under pressure and always sets himself well with his ball control before splitting a pass.

Defensive qualities

On the defensive side, Hillen has a few good strengths, but the same approach also causes issues for him in different situations.

Firstly, he isn’t as quick and gets beaten by pacy players most of the time. This isn’t to say that he can’t deal with pacy players, as he can be seen pushing players wide when he is isolated. While he is involved often defensively, his ground duel rate is just about average and he isn’t as strong in the air. However, he is good at anticipating moves and being at the right place at the right time. This helps him cover and clean up loose balls and also intercept by cutting out passes.

In the above situation, Hillen gets isolated to the right flank, and keeps a fair distance between himself and the opposition player despite the opponent’s back away from the goal. However, he uses his physical strength to brush off his man when he turns and runs the ball out of play to win a throw-in. This, however is also a weakness of his at times where he keeps his distance and commits early, giving the opponent time to get past the challenge.

In the same game against VVV Venlo, you can see him prepare for a challenge from far and does not close his man down and commits early; going down aids the opposition attacker to shift right and take a shot. He does this often and is a weakness in his game. Also, he does close down his man higher up the pitch, especially when he is not the last man.

In one-v-one situations, he doesn’t seem to have a sense of control. While these are issues that can be coached and tuned, these are glaring weaknesses. A move to De Graafschap where he’ll get regular minutes is excellent for his career at the moment and could possibly aid a future big move.

To conclude, Rio Hillen is a quality centre-back in possession and would be a good candidate for the shortlist.