Winter is near and so is the transfer window. The rumour mill has already spun up some stories related to the Premier League clubs and Chelsea are a club who features heavily amongst them. The London club have already been linked with Milan’s Romagnoli and Lazio’s Felipe Anderson and Kalidou Koulibaly. The latest name to be linked with them is Atletico Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco.
Antonio Conte will be backed with the funds in the winter transfer window after Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich made it clear and the Italian manager is keen to utilise the amount to get the players he has shortlisted.
Starting his senior career with AS Monaco, Carrasco won the Ligue 2 in his first season and finished as the runners-up the Ligue 1 the next season. The attacker has 3 good years at Monaco and made 105 appearances in total, scoring 20 goals. Having caught the eye while playing in France, he signed up with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid in 2015.
Playing under Diego Simeone, the player improved considerably in his defensive discipline and positioning and proved to be a perfect weapon which Simeone executed frequently utilising the player as a substitute when things needed a bit of a shake-up.
Appearing 29 times in the La Liga, out of which 13 were from the bench, Carrasco scored 4 goals and provided a single assist in the La Liga but he proved to be a real x-factor in the Champions League.
Making a total of 9 appearances in the Champions League, which included 6 starts, the 23-year old scored once, which was in the final against Real Madrid, and provided two assists in all giving some wonderful performances as the Los Colchoneros reached their 2nd Champions League final in 3 years.
A player who provides a lot of flair down the left-hand channel, the 23-year old is also very versatile, being adept in manning both sides of the wing as well as the left midfield. In terms of his gameplay, the Atletico Madrid man has a lot of similarities with his countryman Eden Hazard, who is currently a player of Chelsea. Carrasco even shares the same jersey number as Hazard.
Having joined the Spanish side last year, Carrasco is contracted to his current club till 2020 with a £35m buy-out clause. Atletico are well aware of the interests of Chelsea and are reportedly interested in offering the player a new contract with a bit of a spike in the buy-out clause as well.
Carrasco is also not a player who is looking for a move out of the Calderon which makes him a real tough target for Conte. Nevertheless, as we all know every player has his price and Atletico can be tempted to sell their star if the right offer comes through which would also supplement their finances to keep ticking over.
