Quilindschy Hartman to Arsenal is a transfer that could come to fruition, according to The Telegraph.
They report that the Gunners are targeting a potential move for the Feyenoord left-back, with London rivals Chelsea also thought to hold an interest.
Mikel Arteta's side are great admirers of Hartman, as they look to strengthen their defence long-term, and the 22-year-old fits the kind of profile that they are looking for.
Hartman to Arsenal: Odd timing?
A Hartman to Arsenal deal in this summer's transfer window would feel like very odd timing for one major reason: he is currently injured. In fact, he suffered an ACL injury back in March, his second ACL tear, and is not expected to return until halfway through next season.
His injury has also ruled him out of Euro 2024 in Germany, where he would have expected to make the Netherlands squad having earned all four of his senior caps since October.
Nonetheless, Arsenal still seem keen to explore the Dutch market, having also been linked with Hartman's teammate in Feyenoord goalkeeper Justin Bijlow and 17-year-old Ajax defensive wonderkid Jarrel Hato, echoing a similar move for Jurrien Timber last summer.
Arteta will hope that Timber has fully recovered from his own injury troubles of the last campaign, as like his Dutch counterpart Hartman, he also unfortunately tore his ACL.
Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior should all provide sufficient cover at left-back until Hartman is ready to play football again, but Arsenal will surely want a player who can nail down the position as his own after a lot of rotation in the previous campaign.
Indeed, Hartman provided more assists (five) and averaged more interceptions (1.1), shots (one), key passes (1.4), dribbles (0.6), crosses (0.7), long balls (two) and through balls (0.2) per game in the Eredivisie than Arsenal's main left-back options did in the Premier League last season, suggesting that he could secure a place in their starting XI.
The English top flight is a whole different animal of course, but Hartman seems like a player that could rise to the occasion.
