Amidst links of a move back to Europe, could one of European football’s forgotten men be on his way to the Premier League this January?

Until the opening of the January transfer window, you would have been forgiven for being unaware of where the Belgian is currently plying his trade. After a £20 million move to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in 2015, the former Monaco man had high expectations that he didn’t quite manage to live up to in his three years at the Vincente Calderon.

In his three seasons at Atleti, the Belgian will be most fondly remembered for his equaliser in the 2016 Champions League Final against bitter city rivals Real Madrid. Replacing Augusto Fernandez at half-time Carrasco scored the equaliser in the 79th minute at the San Siro. Although Atletico went on to lose in the penalty shootout, Carrasco will be forever remembered by Atletico fans for that goal.

A player still with heaps of potential, Carrasco’s time in Spain came to an end as his relationship with Atletico coach Diego Simeone strained over his playing time. The Belgian, alongside Atletico teammate Nicolas Gaitan joined Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang on the 26th February 2018.

Signed by the newly promoted Dalian Yifang for a fee in the region of £23 million, the Belgian is reportedly earning around £8 million a year in Dalian. As expected, the talented Belgian international certainly hasn’t struggled to adapt to Chinese football. In his first season at the club, he provided 7 goals and 9 assists in 25 CSL games, a career-high. To the disappointment of the owners, Carrasco, however, couldn’t prevent his team from finishing a lowly 11th place in the CSL.

As a 24-year-old, the opportunity to earn an incredible amount of money for a few years was too good to turn down for the Belgian. As links have started to circulate surrounding a potential move to the Premier League, Carrasco is rumored to want a return to European football after just a season in China.

For Dalian, Carrasco has mostly operated on the left-wing but has been known to play on the right-wing and also as a second striker throughout his career. Possessing bags of pace and trickery the Belgian has the ability to be a huge addition to any team should he leave the CSL in January.

A player yet to reach his prime years, Carrasco surely won’t be short of suitors if he is indeed intent on departing China this month. Will Yannick Carrasco finally fulfill his potential with a return to European football? Only time will tell.