Six years ago, the 29-year-old Paulinho switched from Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League to La Liga giants Barcelona, winning the La Liga domestic double, which made a good story.
Six years later, Carrasco, who also had a period of timeout, is expected to land at Camp Nou in the summer window. In the last round of La Liga, he created a huge pressure on Barca's right-wing defense. I don't know if after personally inspecting the goods, it will make the Red and Blue Army firm up their determination to buy him.
01. Always been at home: 24 years old to the Chinese Super League, the annual salary is too attractive
a. Making home from an early age: lack of belonging
The biggest feature of Carrasco's career is that it has "no sense of belonging". This may be related to his upbringing. He was born in Belgium in September 1993 to a Spanish father and a Portuguese mother.
Growing up in Belgium, he played 5-on-5 soccer in the park with his grandfather. At the age of 11, he had to go into a host family in order to study at the Genk Academy.
Carrasco did not make his Belgian league debut, moving to Ligue 1 Monaco at the age of 17 and being promoted to the first team two years later.
After playing one year in Ligue 2, two years in Ligue 1 and a double-double in assists in his final season, Carrasco moved to Atletico Madrid in La Liga ahead of his 22nd birthday.
b. From scoring in the Champions League final to joining the Chinese Super League at the age of 24
In his first year at Atletico, Carrasco played at a good level. Not only did he follow Atletico to the Champions League final, but he even scored a goal to help his team take the lead.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid scored in extra-time after a draw, leaving Atletico in second place.
In the following 2016-17 season, Carrasco scored 10 goals in La Liga.
As a result, in February 2018, at the age of 24, he unexpectedly chose to play in the Chinese Super League. Subsequently, after the annual salary of 28 million euros for the first place in the Carrasco Super League was exposed, many people suddenly realized that this was really a temptation that was difficult to refuse.
02. Exhausted means to leave the Chinese Super League: Leaving Atletico Madrid is still because of money
a. All kinds of tricks just to leave the Chinese Super League
But getting a high salary doesn't mean Carrasco found happiness. Because his wife was busy starting a business and did not want to come to the East, he was separated from his family.
At the same time, Carrasco also complained about the playing environment in the Chinese Super League: "In Europe, you only need a good running position to get the ball, in the Chinese Super League, you need more effort, more running to get into a better receiving position. ”
The honeymoon period is short-lived, and although Carrasco's statistics in the Chinese Super League are good, every time he returns to Europe, he has to make clear his attitude of wanting to leave the Chinese Super League in an interview, and the fans are gradually "immune".
Even in order to leave, Carrasco returned to the Chinese Super League after striking and training passively, so much so that the team's goalkeeper Ziqian publicly criticized Carrasco's attitude on social media.
In fact, Dalian Club did not want to release people at that time, they just hoped to recover part of the transfer fee to make up for the original investment.
Unfortunately, none of the European teams offered Carrasco, and even if he and his agent flew to London to negotiate with Arsenal, it was ultimately fruitless.
b. Return to La Liga to win the league title: Fight Atletico again for a pay rise
Because Dalian Renren Club could not afford to raise a big name like Carrasco after the epidemic, he returned to Europe in early 2020 and returned to his old club Atletico Madrid as a loan player.
Half a year later, with the arrival of Suarez, Atletico's strength has reached a big level. In the 2020-21 La Liga season, Carrasco played 36 games, contributing 7 goals and 11 assists, becoming one of the heroes of Atletico's victory over La Liga.
However, Carrasco was destined to be a player who would have a difficult relationship with the team for a long time, and in order to return to Europe, Carrasco's annual salary was reduced from 28 million yuan in Dalian to 10.26 million euros before tax.
The contract expires in 2024 and Atletico made him an offer for a 25% raise, which Carrasco flatly rejected. Carrasco was once linked with Manchester United in order to get better treatment, but unfortunately he once again rubbed shoulders with Premier League teams.
Seeing that he can keep people, he can't keep his heart, Atletico Madrid are also thinking about how to make a move on him. In Barca's deal to sell Depay, Atletico paid a transfer fee of 3 million euros for the Netherlands international and gave Barca a pre-emptive right to buy Carrasco for 20 million euros.
According to Spanish media Relevo reporter Juan Mati, Barça initially hoped for a buyout of 9 million euros and was even willing to trade in the winter window. However, Atletico then more than doubled the price, resulting in a lot of uncertainty as to whether the deal can be completed in the summer window.
03. Playing as a left winger fits Barca's needs: age and annual salary will be an issue
a. Inspect: Carrasco's ability to convince Barça
Carrasco is used as a left wing-back at Atletico, and can play as a winger while retreating.
Given Barca's current staffing, Carrasco, who can break through with the ball, still has some value on the left.
Just like this time Carrasco's strong burst, it completely pierced Conde. Crossing to the centre, De Jong missed the game and gave Griezmann a chance to shoot from the front of the box.
Fortunately, Ter Stegen was brave enough to defuse this shot.
Atletico's best chance of the game was not Griezmann counter-attacking the crossbar after breaking the ball, but this time Carrasco took the ball on the flank and sent a cross.
De Paul, who was unmarked in the middle of the box, could not shoot the ball within the goal range, allowing Barca to escape.
Heading into the second half, Barca even had Rafinha back to protect the outside and Araujo go more forward to cover up Conde's one-on-one disadvantage against Carrasco.
I have to say that even if he is 29 years old, Carrasco's ability to play singles with the ball is still very reliable.
b. Have a certain ability to break through restricted areas
From the season heatmap, you can see that Carrasco can go alone and attack with and without the ball.
The 58% success rate is still good, and the ground one-on-one success rate is only 47%, which is still related to his lack of efficiency on the defensive end. However, this is understandable, after all, at Atletico he has a heavier defensive task, and in other teams he will prefer the winger positioning.
At the World Cup, Carrasco also showed his ability to go into the box without the ball. Because he is still quite fast, when De Bruyne advances and Romelu Lukaku attracts the defender, Carrasco can also outflank the back post.
Carrasco's attacking tools are not few, but his shooting efficiency has not been high, so the number of goals will always be less than 10.
Fortunately, Carrasco's ball sense is still good, hitting the wall and rushing into the box, and the quality of the finish is quite high.
This time, the teammate's first wave of shots were cleared, and Carrasco and DePaul hit the wall and scored into the box, still showing a good impact.
Conclusion:
For Barca, the biggest problem is that Lewandowski and Messi, who is likely to return, are older, and if they spend money to buy Carrasco, who is about to 30 years old, it will be a problem for the long-term construction of the team.
Carrasco, meanwhile, is looking for a contract with an annual salary of more than 13 million euros before tax, which is also a lot of pressure for Barca. Even if his transfer fee can be reduced to around 10 million euros, it will still be a deal with both hope and hidden danger.