Arsenal offered Yannick Carrasco but could not afford him. Belgian winger, Yannick Carrasco has been offered to Arsenal by Chinese club, Dalian Yifang. The North London outfit remains short of cash to acquire the services of the Belgian after his wife informed in the media that Manchester United and certain top European clubs are interested in him. Unai Emery is eager to bolster his wide options this January window, but has already admitted that the club will only be able to bring players to the Emirates on loan. Danny Welback is set to miss a string of games due to injury while Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have shown glimpses of what they can play in their fullest.
Belgian football expert Kristof Terreur told Sky sports that the player’s wage demands would rule the Gunners out of any transfer, despite the player keen on returning to Europe. Carrasco earned a whooping £8.8m in wages yearly in China. Given present market condition, Arsenal can never match this amount of player demand. “Arsenal are looking for a winger, but do not have the money to buy him. If they are considering to take him on loan, he will have to take a pay-cut, because he earns around €180,000 a week. It is a lot of money,” said Terreur.
Carrasco and fellow Atletico Madrid winger Nicolas Gaitan moved to Chinese outfit after falling out of ways for Atletico boss, Diego Simeone. Both had their brief spells at The Madrid outfit. However, in the summer transfer window, both wingers wanted big money moves and decided to opt for the Chinese League.
Terreur insists that one club which can match the ex-Atletico Madrid winger’s wages are English sides, Manchester United. Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s United have enough attacking quality in their side to pass on Carrasco, who impressed during two-and-a-half years at Atletico Madrid before his move to China last February. “He just wants to leave China, and his people are offering him everywhere. He wants to go to England; he wants to be closer to home.”
Although a right winger is in long demand for Manchester United, they know that they are in need for more talented stars. It is to be seen if a player like Carrasco can fill the ranks of Rashford, Martial, Lingard, who have done fairly well for themselves so far, since the arrival of Solskjaer. If Lukaku does leave Old Trafford, Rashford could change roles and become the first-choice striker once again.
This might open up a slot for Carrasco to try to fit in, though replacing Martial will be a tough task too. However, the Norwegian manager can surely look to rotate the squad a bit and have a backup, if there are any sort of injuries by chance.
Think injuries, think Arsenal. However, the Gunners too need more quality up front and the likes of Iwobi and co. are just not good enough at times, when the going gets tough. Due to this, Unai Emery will want such a player in, who can not just play well, but can handle the pressure well.
He will want to put pressure on his first team players to perform better and for that purpose, he will want to sign more stars in the days to come. This transfer saga could get really interesting soon.
