Yannick Carrasco's Agent Says Winger Wants Dalian Exit Amid Arsenal Rumours

Yannick Carrasco's agent said the Belgium international wants to leave Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang because his family is struggling to adapt. Carrasco has been linked to Arsenal, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Inter Dipendenza (h/t Football Italia) spoke to the representative, Christophe Henrotay, who expressed hope the Chinese club would open talks with interested clubs:

"There's plenty of interest in Yannick from all over Europe because his family are having problems adapting to China.

"He's concerned about his family, which is completely normal. He has a lot of respect for his current club, Dalian, because he loves them and because they're a great team with a lot of history.

"He wants to be honest with them, and it's for this reason that he's talked to the club, informing them that he isn't 100 percent focused because of his family's difficulties.

"Yannick's very focused on working, but for his family it's different. He has too much respect for the club not to tell them.

"There's the possibility that Dalian reward this honesty and talk to the clubs interested in him."

The Football Italia report linked the former Atletico Madrid man to both Milan-based Serie A clubs, while Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur of HLN early this month said Carrasco was offered to the Gunners:

The links to Arsenal dominated the transfer chatter earlier in January but have cooled off a bit in the last week. Inter now appear his strongest suitor after recent speculation regarding the Gunners and Ivan Perisic, as shared by Italian football writer Adam Digby:

Carrasco left Europe for China in February 2018 in a peculiar deal that was tied to the Wanda Group's sale of their stake in Atletico Madrid, per Marca's Mikel Sainz de Vicuna, and some criticised the speedster for cashing out and moving to a less competitive environment.

Like compatriot Axel Witsel, Carrasco has dominated the CSL, and with the former finding immediate success upon his return to Europe―he's been one of the Bundesliga's best at Borussia Dortmund―there's reason to believe the 25-year-old could follow a similar path.

His tremendous dribbling skills have been on full display in China:

Time is quickly running out on the January transfer window, however. Premier League clubs can sign players until only Thursday, giving the Gunners little time to swing a deal. A summer move seems more likely at this point.

The same holds true for a possible switch to Italy, but things could change if Perisic makes a late move to Arsenal. Inter are battling it out for a spot in next year's UEFA Champions League and can't afford to play out the second half of the season without a proper replacement for the Croat.