Arsenal scout Amine Harit – so who is he?

Arsenal are reportedly heavily scouting young French midfielder, Amine Harit, so who is the player some in the media are calling a possible Mesut Ozil replacment?.

The young French U-20 international currently plays for Nantes in Ligue 1.

19-year-old, he is already an established first team player, making 33 appearances this season across all competitions, making him the fifth most used player in the squad.

Even though he’s still very young, his attitude on the pitch is very mature as he leads his team in transition from defence to attack.

One of the main highlights of his playing style is his versatility, as his coach René Girard uses him in multiple positions. Harit can cover every midfield position from left to right and even play as an attacking midfielder, although he’s at his best when playing on the wing where he has enough space to dribble.

Dribbling and passing skills are his main strengths, allowing him to take on his opponents and make use of the space between defensive lines.

Due to his lack of physical strength, he’s rather weak on the ball when presented with a challenge so he makes most use of first touch passing and using wide spaces for runs. He makes an average of three dribbles per game with 1.2 key passes, while maintaining an average of 82.3% of pass success.

When on the ball, Harit often cuts inside to a more central position while connecting with overlapping fullbacks.

Harit has recently signed a new contract with Nantes until 2020, and according to Transfermarkt.com he’s valued at €2 million but the club is determined to get much more than that.

Last summer Bayern Munich had their bid of €8 million rejected by Nantes.

Harit is not expected to stay in the club for much longer with the most recent reports of interest from Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.

Even if not unproven, given his age Harit couldn’t expect to start in current Arsenal squad, but could well be one for the future.

He’d certainly benefit from the coaching staff at Arsenal and the in-squad competition that can spur young players to reach new heights.