Manchester United are set to fight Chelsea and Tottenham for an Atletico Madrid winger, who Diego Simeone is ready to sell in the summer transfer window.
The player in question is the Belgian winger, Yannick Carrasco.
The Belgian international has been an important member of Diego Simeone’s squad after coming back to Atletico from the Chinese team, Dalian FC in 2020.
Carrasco in 34 league games last season scored six and assisted a further six as Atletico Madrid finished 3rd in the table standings.
However, the finish behind Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona was not good enough for manager Diego Simeone. The Argentinian is set to reshuffle his squad in the summer transfer window and Carrasco could be one of the players who leave the club.
According to Spanish outlet AS, Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs are interested in the Belgian. The report suggests:
"As AS has learned, mainly Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United have knocked on his door with the idea of probing the possibility of a change of scene this summer.via as.com"
Carrasco’s contract will last until 2024, however, the Atletico boss has no plans of renewing his contract and is ready to cash in on him. His current offer also includes a €60 million release clause, which we could see Manchester United or one of the London clubs activating.
Another reason for Carrasco being put on the market is his high wage demands. He is currently an average earning member of the Atletico Madrid squad but now wants an increase in wage, which Atletico cannot afford at present.
So if his wage demands keep increasing, Atletico might be pressured into selling him as soon as possible.
According to AS:
"The player feels entitled to request a review of his contract, which does not come close, as they understand from his environment, to the reality of the market.Carrasco is the average rojiblanca salary scale. Soccer players like Oblak, Griezmann and Koke , who exceed or are around ten million euros net per season, are at the top.via as.com"
Chelsea are in the market looking for a new winger and they will want to take a look at Yannick Carrasco. They are already linked with Raheem Sterling and recently, Neymar, but Yannick Carrasco will not be a bad alternative to those two.
Manchester United, on the other hand, are primarily focused on getting a new central midfielder after Pogba, Matic and Juan Mata’s departure from Old Trafford.
They are being heavily linked with Ruben Neves, Christian Eriksen and Frenkie De Jong. However, they do need attacking reinforcements as seen from last season, and Carrasco will help the club move forward in that direction.
While United identify midfielder as an area of huge concern, Tottenham focuses on bringing in Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan.
They are also in a three-way tussle with Man United and Brentford for Christian Eriksen. If they fail to land Martinez, they could turn their attention to Carrasco, who will probably cost them less than the Argentinian.