This season’s transfer window has been a slow burn so far. Besides Real Madrid, other clubs seem to be biding their time until the right dominoes fall in place to make their moves. As Arsenal fans we’re used to being linked to everyone under the sun who has ever kicked a football. This season is no different, so far we’ve been linked to inexperienced players from the untapped reaches of Latin America to players in the Chinese super league looking to revive their careers. In this weekly transfer-themed segment of Arsenal Canon, I examine the player most heavily linked to a move to Arsenal in the previous week, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco The news surrounding Carrasco to Arsenal seems to have exploded this week, with every other Italian ITK claiming that Arsenal are in advanced talks to complete a deal for Carrasco. There was genuine interest in Carrasco from Arsenal in January, but the deal fell through due to complications in getting him out of Dalian Yifang. Carrasco is a talented 25-year-old winger, who has experience at the champions league level with Monaco and Atletico Madrid but was shipped off to China due to attitude problems at Atletico. Given Arsenal’s Europa league budget and dented stature, this might be exactly the type of player we need to take a punt on. He clearly has champions league level talent if the right manager can keep him focused on football. We have to hope his desire to play top-tier football in Europe outweighs his disciplinary issues. The latest rumors cite that Arsenal are looking for a £22-25 million deal for Carrasco. I think that represents good value for Arsenal. He’d fill a much-needed role at Arsenal with very little risk at that price. Carrasco’s biggest strength is his dribbling ability and pace, two qualities Arsenal are majorly lacking in their squad. His second season at Atletico Madrid(2016/2017), as a snapshot of his ability, paints an encouraging picture for Arsenal. In terms of goal contribution Carrasco produced a solid return of 10 goals and 4 assists in La Liga. Carrasco falls under the profile of a winger who relishes taking risks in the final third. He ended the season with the highest number of attempted dribbles in the team, with 4.2 per game. 1.5 shots PG outside the box and having been fouled 1.4 times PG, shows that he can add some innovation to an often predictable Arsenal attack. There were still rough edges to his game that season, but if Arsenal were signing Carrasco in 2017, Gooners around the world would be raving about how Arsenal are signing one of the most exciting talents in Europe. However, after one and a half year in China, his career has stagnated, and questions are rightfully being asked regarding his desire and ability to get back onto his initial trajectory. Given that he’s still only 25, if he can fix-up and re-establish himself on the European stage, we could see a significant rise in his sell-on value in the near future. Unfortunately, as heavy as the links to him are, I believe this will be a very difficult deal to get over the line. Not much has changed since January, the obstacles stopping this move from happening are still present. Carrasco is on monstrous wages right now, and unless we want another Ozil situation on our hands, we need to convince him to take a significant wage cut. To make matters worse, the financial situation for Chinese super league clubs has changed drastically since Dalian Yifang signed Carrasco. The Chinese government have clamped down on clubs splashing the cash on players from Europe, evidenced by the lack of blockbuster transfers to China in the past few years (www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/2062455/have-shock-new-rules-foreign-players-burst-chinese-footballs-transfer). Therefore, Carrasco’s club want to recoup as much of the fee as they can for Carrasco as they possibly can. The occurrence of this transfer will finally come down to Arsenal’s desire to drudge through the red tape of getting him out of China. In the past Arsenal have steered clear of deals with these types of complications, but this new administrative setup could be cut from a different cloth. I believe that although he comes with a slight risk of becoming another big-wage player stuck at Arsenal, there is enough of an upside for Arsenal in this deal. Let’s hope that by the time next week’s edition of the Arsenal Canon Transfer Review comes around, our lord and savior during this time of year, David Ornstien has brought us some good news about Carrasco Probability of Deal Happening: 2/5 Player Fit at Arsenal: 4/5
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AuthorBasically everything you'll see on here is Canon in the history of Arsenal Football Club. That's how this works right? Archives
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