According to Sky Sports Italia (via Mirror), Arsenal have been tipped as favourites to land Dalian Yifang attacker Yannick Ferreira Carrasco.
The Belgian superstar is keen to return to Europe this month, and the Gunners have already made contact.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco: A smart choice by Emery?
Arsenal have been a mixed bag this season under Unai Emery and although they deserve massive credit for keeping in touch with the top four, the Spaniard still needs to address a lot of problems in the ongoing January transfer window.
Lack of resources in the wide areas, for one, has been one of Arsenal’s main issues this season (apart from the defence of course). Henrikh Mkhitaryan has appeared inconsistent while Alex Iwobi cannot be trusted as a regular starter, leaving the Gunners quite shallow in their squad depth.
And if we consider Mesut Ozil’s dismal campaign, it goes without saying that Arsenal are in desperate need of some attacking reinforcements this January and Ferreira Carrasco seems like a smart choice.
The Belgian was regarded as one of the sharpest wingers during his time with Atletico Madrid, which is why his €30 million switch to China in February of last year was a bit surprising.
Carrasco has quick-feet and is a pretty useful player to have during the transition as it’s hard to stop him when he is driving at the opposition half.
But, what makes Carrasco such a sought after winger in European football, is the fact that he is a hard-working attacker, whose incessant pressing was a key reason behind his success under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.
And this could be beneficial for Emery as well, as the former PSG boss often focuses on restricting the flow of the opposition’s build-up game and Carrasco, in that regard, should be able to do the job.
Aside from that, the Belgian international has raw pace, which makes him a threat on the counter while his ability to play quick passes in the final third certainly tunes in well with Arsenal’s high-tempo game in attack.
Simply put, Carrasco’s pace, combined with his trickery and a bit of hard-work would certainly revamp the Arsenal attack.