Yannick Carrasco has re-joined Atletico Madrid from Dalian Yifang on loan until the end of the season and Diego Simeone has not ruled out further deadline-day arrivals.
Belgium international Carrasco trained with Atletico prior to confirmation of the deal being announced on Friday and coach Simeone hopes to be able to call upon him in the LaLiga meeting with rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
[📝] Agreement with Dalian Professional FC over the loan of @CarrascoY21.
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 31, 2020
😀👋 Welcome back! 🔴⚪
👉 https://t.co/0qFG4KrxnL#WelcomeCarrasco #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/0DoAfqbTiQ
The 26-year-old joined Atletico from Monaco in 2015 and left for Chinese Super League side Dalian in February 2018, but Simeone is pleased to have him back.
"[Carrasco] is excited and wants to be here," said Simeone. "If the paperwork is done, he will certainly be with us [against Madrid].
"I want him to come with the same commitment we spoke about on the telephone. I liked Yannick's desire to come to Atletico. That is an important step for what can happen next."
👋🏼😀 #WelcomeCarrasco!
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 31, 2020
🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/kKV35HvHGG
Atletico reportedly failed with an €18million bid for Edinson Cavani, whose contract at Paris Saint-Germain will expire at the end of the season, but there may still be new additions on deadline day.
"There are still a few hours left. Anything can happen," said Simeone.
The Atleti boss has been subject to increasing criticism in recent weeks, with his team falling 10 points behind LaLiga leaders Madrid and suffering elimination from the Copa del Rey to third-tier Cultural Leonesa.
Zinedine Zidane spoke out in support of his cross-city counterpart on Friday and Simeone was thankful for his words.
"It's nice when a colleague of Zidane's quality thinks this way. I return the message," said the Argentine.
"He is the ideal coach for Madrid. He has the rank and the ability to do what he feels. He returned to compete like he had before he left.
"Madrid have improved a lot defensively. They are very strong. They have many options in attack and that allows him to play with different players.
"It will be a match where the details and intelligence will have a lot of dominance."
