Arsenal cool interest in Perisic and target new winger

Arsenal have cooled their interest in Inter winger Ivan Perisic and are now pursuing former Atletico Madrid wideman Yannick Carrasco, claims Gianluca Di Marzio.

Perisic emerged as a top transfer target for Arsenal last week and the Gunners have already had a loan bid rejected for the Croatia international.

The 29-year-old submitted a transfer request over the weekend amid interest from Arsenal but Inter want to offload him permanently.

Inter had earmarked Carrasco as Perisic’s replacement but now Arsenal, who can only afford loan signings this month, have turned their attention to the unhappy Dalian Yifang winger.

Carrasco has spent the last 12 months at Dalian Yifang but his family are unsettled and the Chinese Super League outfit are willing to sanction a loan move with an open to buy.

While teams in Europe have until Thursday to sign players, clubs from China have until the end of February and there would be plenty of time for Dalian Yifang to find a replacement for Carrasco.

The 25-year-old played a direct hand in 12 goals in 25 league appearances during his first season in China (seven goals, five assists).