Arsenal and Bayern Munich are reportedly engaging in a tussle over signing Atletico Madrid’s Belgian forward Yannick Carrasco.
According to a report by AS, Bayern Munich are set to compete with Arsenal over signing Yannick Carrasco if they fail to seal a deal for long-time target Alexis Sanchez. The German club has been trying to sign Sanchez for a while now, but they are looking at other alternatives and Arsenal target Carrasco happens to be one of them.
Carrassco will also be unlikely to command a huge transfer fee like Alexis Sanchez which means Bayern can save a lot of their money and scout other targets. Arsenal, on the other hand, have been targeting Carrasco as a means of replacing out-bound Sanchez, who is now being strongly linked to Premier League rivals Manchester City.
Additionally, Bayern will be looking to sign him as a replacement for Douglas Costa, who is rumoured to be on the brink of an exit from the Allianz Arena.
The Atletico forward played in 53 games last season and scored 14 goals with five assists to his name as well. He also scored in the Champions League final the season before and concluded a successful individual season with a hat-trick against Granada, thus establishing himself as one of Diego Simeone’s key men.
Carrasco’s speed and scoring accuracy can make him an ideal like-for-like replacement for Sanchez at Arsenal. The Gunners will have to work hard towards securing a deal for Carrasco since there’s not much chances of Sanchez staying back after he made it clear that he will leave Arsenal if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
The 23-year-old is known to be a tricky player and can get the best of most defenders. Since he is very young, he can also benefit by playing under the watchful eye of Arsene Wenger as the Frenchman is quite adept at moulding and nurturing young talents.
Carrasco can play either on the flanks or up front, which makes him versatile enough to make a quality addition for the Gunners.
However, while he does seem like a good fit, Atletico Madrid should ideally refrain from selling players due to their transfer ban which will prevent them from signing new players until January 2018. Selling first team players without a quality replacement will not bode well for Los Rojiblancos.
It was due to this very reason that Antoine Griezmann’s proposed move to Manchester United fell through but Bayern and Arsenal will be hoping for the best anyway.
