Name: Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco

Club: AS Monaco

Nationality: Belgian

Position: Midfielder

 

Who is he?

The 20-year-old Belgian arrived in France aged 16 from RFC Genk. Joining AS Monaco in 2010 – a year before the takeover by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev – he made his senior debut last season as the team from the principality achieved promotion.

A regular in the team, he impressed, making 27 appearances in Ligue 2, scoring six goals and getting six assists.

 

Achievements

Despite the plethora of new signings made by Monaco, Ferreira-Carrasco has continued to hold down a place in Claudio Ranieri’s starting XI.

He has been involved in all of Monaco’s league games at the start of 2013/14, setting up two goals in a 4 – 1 win over Montpellier (in the video below he sets up goal 3 from a corner and also goal 4 with a deflected shot).

Quickly becoming a fan favourite at Monaco, he has played for Belgium from U15 level to U21.

He is uncapped at senior level and with the wealth of talent available to Belgium at the moment, a World Cup  spot (Belgium are very close to sealing a place in Brazil) is an outside bet at best.

 

Attributes

More often than not, Ferreira-Carrasco is stationed on the left wing for Monaco where he can make the most of his quick feet, energy and pace.

He ranks in the Top 20 in Ligue 1 this season when it comes to successful dribbles per game and his delivery is also consistent as he showed in Ligue 2 last season.

This term he is ranked 11^th in terms of the number of key passes he makes per game – an impressive feat for a player of his age. His crossing has also garnered praise.

He is also a threat at set-pieces, scoring two free kicks in his debut season, while he is capable of performing in a more central role.

 

Potential

Staying at Monaco might have been a risk given the outlay on new players. But he is one of many youngsters who have been given a chance to combine with the big name stars like Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez.

He has shown plenty of promise and if he continues to get a good run of games, he will be one to watch in next season’s Champions League – assuming Monaco qualify.

 

Plays a bit like…Because of his nationality and similar playing position, he has been seen as a new Hazard. Although the old Hazard is only two years older.