Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Yannick Carrasco and Stipe Perica

Yannick Carrasco has expressed his desire to extend his stay at Atletico Madrid amid reports Chelsea want to sign him.

Per Sky Sports (h/t the Daily Star's Lewis Winter), he said: "I will be here until 2020, and I wish I could be here [even] longer. I am good here at Atleti."

According to the Mirror, the Blues are interested in the Belgian, but Los Rojiblancos are hoping to secure his future with a new deal that includes a bigger release clause—his current clause being £35 million.

Sports journalist Robbie Dunne believes the 23-year-old would be well worth that price:

Indeed, the winger stood out as one of Atleti's top performers last year. After initially being sceptical, Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez was won round by his abilities:

Here are some of his highlights:

The pacey star is an excellent dribbler and uses his quick feet to evade opponents and terrorise defences. His skills often make him a target for the opposition, and he draws plenty of fouls in dangerous areas, too.

Carrasco could stand to create more chances, but he is improving in that regard on last year—according to Squawka, he has laid on 1.45 opportunities for his team-mates per 90 minutes in La Liga this season, up from 1.26 last year.

It is of course early days in the campaign, though, as he has played just 373 minutes across seven matches thus far—he needs to show he can continue to improve over the course of the season.

La Liga writer Andrew Gaffney praised him after he netted against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League last month, though he also noted there is room for some improvement:

Carrasco is an exciting player and evidently has great potential, so he'd make a fine capture for the Blues. 

According to Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard, the Blues will make over £200 million per year in TV revenue and kit sponsorship, so even meeting a higher release clause shouldn't be beyond them, but his desire to stay at the Vicente Calderon could be a real sticking point.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Meanwhile, former Chelsea youngster Stipe Perica hopes to return to the club in the future.

According to Tomislav Gabelic of Croatian outlet 24Sata (h/t Jamie Anderson of the Daily Star), he said: "I left Croatia at 17, too soon, I do not recommend such a thing to anyone. I learned a lot but skipped some steps which I am doing now. I do not regret anything. I was at a big club like Chelsea and I will do all to return one day to the Blues."

The 21-year-old made his loan move to Udinese permanent in the summer. In recent years, Chelsea have allowed the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku to leave the club without giving them a fair chance at Stamford Bridge.

Perica still has some way to go before he can consider himself in their camp, however—he's not even a regular starter for the Serie A side.

If he harbours ambitions of a return to Stamford Bridge, he'll need to establish himself at Udinese and start racking up the goals.