A host of Premier League sides including Villa, Spurs and Newcastle have been linked to highly regarded winger Yannick Carrasco.
The 28 year old Belgian international has been heavily courted by a number of top sides, with Tottenham having a long standing interest stretching back in the January 2022 transfer window. It’s understood that time ran out to get that particular deal over the line, but that this has since alerted a number of clubs to Carrasco’s willingness to switch to the Premier League.
Embed from Getty ImagesBarcelona have also been known admirers, but are grappling with serious financial issues, meaning their transfer movements are finely balanced. The Catalan side have been unable to register Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen in recent days due to their dire balance sheet and eased their wage bill by offloading Coutinho to Villa in a cut price deal.
Back in the Premier League, Newcastle remain increasingly desperate to secure signings after seeing a number of high profile targets opt to go elsewhere in England or Europe. Indeed, Villa recently pipped Eddie Howe’s side to Sevilla and Brazil defender Diego Carlos for £26m. The Magpies have been tracking Carrasco for a number of months and may now attempt to lure the former Monaco man having avoided relegation, after being at some risk at the time of their last interest at the seasons halfway point.
Carrasco is an intriguing link as Steven Gerrard looks to re-energise an Aston Villa squad that finished a disappointing 14th. This lowly league finish, an outcome that Gerrard himself termed “unacceptable”, cannot be entertained next season, especially after further significant squad investment already this summer.
Whilst this rumour should even at this stage be regarded as tenuous, club CEO Christian Purslow has been clear that the football club will act in an “opportunistic” manner where player acquisitions are concerned. This has been proven the case previously, with shrewd moves ahead of the competition for the likes of Danny Ings and more recently Boubacar Kamara.
Embed from Getty ImagesCarrasco is versatile and has become an important part of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid La Liga side. The Belgian has featured as a winger, attacking midfielder and a striker on both the right and left. Simeone has commented previously upon his qualities being pace, quality in one-on-one situations and striking from distance.
It’s believed that Carrasco has a release clause in the region of €60m / £51.5m, meaning that any move from Villa would see the deal eclipse the club record fee (£33m) paid for Emi Buendia last summer.