Atletico Madrid are inviting bids for Yannick Carrasco, after the Belgian international reportedly fell out with teammates in the dressing room.
Spanish outlet AS write that Diego Simeone is preparing to cash in on the winger in January. Arsenal and Chelsea are both following the 24-year-old, and could bid in the winter window.
Carrasco is a player with experience at the very top level, despite his age. He played and scored in the 2016 Champions League final, even though Atletico went on to lose on penalties.
Last season, he scored 14 goals and provided five assists, and reached double figures for league goals for the first time. This season he’s doing the same thing, scoring three and assisting four in just nine starts.
But nine starts from 25 matches shows he’s fallen out of favour with Simeone. If the rumours are true, the manager would now rather cash in. Diego Costa and Vitolo are both about to join after the club’s transfer ban ends. So Simeone won’t be short on attacking options either way.
Arsenal may need a player like Carrasco soon. The Gunners have Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez on contracts that expire in 2018, so they need to be on the lookout for replacements. We’ll see if the Belgian international interests Wenger in January.