According to Jason Burt of the Telegraph, Spurs have today entered talks to sign Yannick Ferreira Carrasco from Atletico Madrid for a fee of approximately £25 million.
The versatile Belgian can play a host of positions, whether that be as a winger or a wing-back, on either side of the pitch, and according to Burt, has long been admired by both Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici.
Indeed, our interest in Carrasco transcends the time the Italian duo have been at the club, with Spurs having been interested in the 28-year-old’s services as early as 2018 if Talksport are to be believed, having been pipped to his signature from Monaco by Atletico in May that year.
Burt’s report from the Telegraph interestingly claims that Spurs had also tried to sign Carrasco on January deadline day, but Atletico had no intentions of cashing in on the Belgian 28-year-old at that time. Now, however, the picture has changed, with Burt claiming that:
“Although Carrasco has been an important player for Atletico under coach Diego Simeone, the club are under pressure to sell some players to make sure they comply with the salary cap imposed by La Liga.”
If signed, Burt assumes that Carrasco would compete with Emerson Royal for our right wing-back slot. Given that this week starts a run of two matches a week up until the World Cup – not including September’s international break – the fact that Carrasco can also play further forward – and on both sides of the pitch, a la Perisic – would render him a useful signing if we pull it off. Let’s see how this one develops…
Lol. If all signings are predicated on playing in Conte’s wingback formation, then no other manager could replace him. Smart strategy for a manager and director never to get fired.
If they win and play exciting football, then that’s okay, i guess. But maybe their plan is always to have a boring midfield so that no other manager who prefers a different style can show up and win with this lot.
I don’t mean to make an argument that we should oust Conte and Paritici, who seem bent on hell to form a squad that can play without a midfield (except for the occassional defensive stops), but I’d like to see a squad that can play alternative formations for those moments when they desperately are needed.
Bring in some fresh and young Modder Focker.
Jesus (and not the angel Gabriel), Omar. Introduce one thread at a time, man. Two or three threads introduced at the same time and we’re like headless chickens not knowing where to go. This isn’t the most flexible lot on here. When we chose a thread its hard to acknowledge there’s another opening at the same time.
But then, where’s the thread for Wednesday’s match. Odin’s day deserves a thread for ys to spam the ham. Wham Bam thank you Spam (for tossing us the three points to come).
Vs Spam, now that’s a must win every time. Anne Boleyn may host no more headers, and the team moved to a horror stadium left over from the Olympics, but it’s still worth despising those who killed the lass.
Having seen lots of Carrasco over the years, no thanks. He is a player with loads of talent, but he just doesn’t have the discipline to track back. At best he’s a work in progress for Conte to try to mould in an effective wing back, at worst he’s a luxury player with pace but an erratic end product.
Just how many players do you need for one position ? We have Doherty and Spence for the right wing back position. We also have Emerson who is really a full back but has been surprisingly effective so far. Incidentally I’d keep Emerson since if we drop into a back four we don’t really have another right back, though Davies would be quite comfortable on the left. Finally we have tried Moura there. So why recruit yet another player for that position ? it makes no sense.