Quilindschy Hartman Scout Report At Burnley 2025/2026: A Miscast Talent In The Premier League – Player Analysis

Quilindschy Hartman was one of the most admired young full-backs/wing-backs in Europe two years ago when Total Football Analysis last scouted the Dutchman.

Hartman was a key part of Arne Slot’s Feyenoord side that won the Eredivisie in 2022/2023 and won the KNVB Cup in 2023/2024.

The left-back was heavily linked with both Chelsea and Arsenal in 2024 before a serious knee injury set him back, leaving him sidelined for almost a full calendar year.

Hartman ultimately secured his move to England this past summer, with Scott Parker’s Burnley the destination.

There’s been plenty of speculation around Hartman’s transfer status of late, with highly publicised links to fierce Feyenoord rivals Ajax (since refuted by Hartman himself) and, more recently, links to Beşiktaş.

Clarets boss Parker, meanwhile, has explained Hartman’s absences from some recent matchday squads more or less as managing the 24-year-old’s workload and giving him time to adapt to his new environment, which seems sensible, especially coming off the back of that lengthy knee injury.

This Quilindschy Hartman scout report analyses the Netherlands international’s exciting profile, highlighting the unique skills he brings to Scott Parker’s side and why his current team doesn’t allow him to show the best of himself on the Premier League stage.

Quilindschy Hartman Stats

On top of the lengthy injury which kept him out of action for so long and the fact that Hartman is making a step up from Eredivisie to the Premier League this season, we must acknowledge Quilindschy Hartman is experiencing something very different on the pitch with Burnley this term than he had experienced with Feyenoord.

Arne Slot’s side averaged the most possession in the Dutch top-flight in 2023/2024 (61.2%).

Burnley, meanwhile, are currently averaging the lowest amount of possession in the Premier League (40.9%).

Obviously, this places different demands and expectations on Hartman than he will have been used to in previous seasons of professional football and even further back in his development, with the left-back having come through Feyenoord’s youth system since 2010.

The following graphic (Figure 1) shows Quilindschy Hartman’s percentile ranks for 2023/2024 in several key metrics when his performance is compared to that of other left-backs in Eredivisie and leagues of a similar level.

Quilindschy Hartman Pizza Chart 2023/2024

His defensive metrics were perhaps a bit deflated due to Feyenoord’s possession-dominance, yet he still put up solid numbers in duel success, reflecting reliability without the ball.

With the ball, Quilindschy Hartman really shone, especially in the passing metrics.

The same data for this season, giving percentile ranks when compared with left-backs from Europe’s top-five leagues, is shown in Figure 2.

Quilindschy Hartman Pizza Chart 2025/2026

Hartman’s possession metrics have obviously fallen off a bit due to the nature of Burnley’s status in the Premier League compared with Feyenoord’s in Eredivisie.

Defensive duel volume has risen, and success rate has remained a respectable middle-of-the-road.

Hartman still contributes in the attack, but has far fewer opportunities to do so, which is why he sits between 27.7 and 45.45 in the attacking metrics.

Hartman still ranks impressively among his peers for dangerous passes, but plays far less of a role in build-up with Burnley than he did with Feyenoord, so there is a notable drop off elsewhere in the passing metrics.

If they think they can retain Hartman’s services should they get relegated, then perhaps there’s an element of forward planning with respect to Burnley’s Hartman signing.

Last season, Burnley averaged the fourth-most possession in the EFL Championship (56.6%), which is an immediate sign of a system that could suit the Dutchman much better.

Unfortunately, Burnley don’t have the relative quality to do that in the Premier League, so at the moment, Hartman does suffer.

It is a move that is said to have been backed by Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman, with reports stating the manager believed it would give Hartman a chance to showcase his ability at the highest level.

However, knowing that 2025/2026 would always be a difficult one for Burnley, as a promoted side, and Hartman off the back of his injury, you’d have to question the wisdom of making this specific move, especially in a World Cup year, which doesn’t seem to set Hartman up for success, nor does it necessarily give Burnley exactly what they might need at full-back for the best chance of top-flight survival.

For what it’s worth, I feel Scott Parker is a good coach, and I firmly believe Quilindschy Hartman is a quality player, but I think this is far from a match made in heaven for all involved in the current circumstances, which is why rumours of a January move are not so surprising.

Quilindschy Hartman In Possession

Scott Parker clearly recognises the best way of using Quilindschy Hartman on the ball.

Hartman is not an end-to-end full-back who’s going to give you endless legs up and down the wing over the course of a match.

He isn’t a player who thrives in transitions, and simply relying on him to stretch the opposing defence isn’t going to get the best out of him.

Hartman is an elite creator who thrives primarily in the left half-space and in more central positions.

His profile is ideal for an inverted full-back role, allowing him to play as a playmaker either from deep or from further upfield.

Possession-heavy positional play systems would likely be ideal for Quilindschy Hartman due to his skill set on and, as we’ll come to, off the ball.

The above clip shows Quilindschy Hartman showcasing his deep playmaking ability after receiving the ball while making up part of Burnley’s rest defence just after an attacking set-piece.

He collects the ball around the halfway line, gets his head up while setting himself to ping the ball forward and plays an excellent creative pass that Andrea Pirlo would be proud of.

The next image, taken from Burnley’s 2-3 win away at Wolves in October, provides another example of Quilindschy Hartman’s value when inverting into central positions from left-back.

The player’s vision and technical quality to execute a killer through pass make him a brilliant asset when he does invert as in Figure 3.

This next example shows Quilindschy Hartman in action for the Netherlands versus France.

We find the full-back receiving the ball inside the final third.

He comes inside a fair bit as opposed to staying out wide as you might expect from a full-back before whipping an inviting low cross into a striker’s path, as we progress from Figure 4 into Figure 5, below.

All in all, Quilindschy Hartman is an excellent creator who excels in this role that sees him come into more central positions from his wide starting point.

Scott Parker recognises this and does offer opportunity for Hartman to perform this role within his Burnley side.

The issue is not Scott Parker’s, nor is it Quilindschy Hartman’s.

It’s the nature of being a full-back in a Burnley team that’s constantly up against teams of higher quality that limits Quilindschy Hartman’s potential to actually show what he can do on the Premier League stage.

Quilindschy Hartman Out Of Possession

Out of possession, Quilindschy Hartman is a proactive defender who reads passing lanes at a high level and tries to defend ahead of the duel.

He doesn’t tend to rely on last-ditch tackles or fouls; Hartman prefers to rely on his anticipation and pace to get out in front of the attacker and intercept the pass.

Like Quilindschy Hartman’s in-possession style of play, his out-of-possession approach suits a possession-dominant positional play side with an organised structure that aims to counterpress aggressively.

This type of system would accentuate Hartman’s strengths out of possession just as much as in possession.

Being part of a defensive system designed to win the ball high up the pitch would reward Hartman’s anticipation, timing and reading of the game.

Quilindschy Hartman has showcased his timing and anticipation this season.

In Figure 6, we see the left-back jumping out ahead of the attacker at just the right moment to win the ball and kickstart a counterattacking opportunity for Burnley, frustrating the Crystal Palace players who’d thought they’d found a way through Burnley’s defence until Hartman demonstrated his impressive reading of the game.

Figures 7 and 8 show a similar example of Hartman positioning himself well between two Brentford passing options, avoiding committing to either one too early and giving himself just enough time and space to get back to the centre and perform the interception once the opponent plays their attempted through pass.

All these defending situations suit Quilindschy Hartman’s skill set to a tee.

However, the Dutchman has also had to do a lot of deep 1-v-1 defending this season, and that doesn’t always suit him.

For instance, Hartman has a habit of turning his back to a crosser as they get set to play a ball in which can lead to a block at times, but ultimately this is not best practice for a full-back defending 1-v-1, as he shows the attacker self-protection as opposed to outcome control by reacting to the anticipated strike rather than focusing on defending the space.

The body language in such situations is almost accepting one’s fate rather than attempting to influence the outcome of the action, and his blocking surface is narrowed through the turning of his body.

Crucially, this habit is something opposing wingers can target because Hartman routinely blinds himself at the crucial moment an attacker’s foot makes contact with the ball, making himself vulnerable to potential fake-crosses from wingers who could skip past him if they prepare.

This is just one example which helps illustrate how defending deep doesn’t necessarily suit Quilindschy Hartman, who is a strong defender when pressing high.

Conclusion

To conclude, Quilindschy Hartman is not a fit for Burnley, nor is Burnley a fit for Quilindschy Hartman.

The 24-year-old Dutchman has the potential to be a strong left-back option in a top-five league, but in order to really get the best out of him, he’d have to be playing in a completely different type of team to the one he’s currently in, with no disrespect to Burnley.

With that said, in a possession-dominant side that could give Quilindschy Hartman the space to invert and create, he’d be able to show more and more of that playmaking quality we’ve only caught glimpses of this season, while being tasked with pressing high and recovering the ball proactively would also highlight Hartman’s strengths while hiding his weaknesses better out of possession.

While his long-term injury has likely made these types of teams, who are at the other end of the table to Burnley, a bit unsure about bringing Hartman in, I’m confident he could play in this type of team at a higher level than all but a select few full-backs in the world, offering major potential upside for a team willing to take the risk on the €18m-valued 24-year-old.