Arsenal target Yannick Carrasco has been suspended from Dalian Yifang training and imposed with a fine as speculation over his future intensifies.
The Chinese Super League club have cited his recent behaviour as the reasoning behind the ban.
They issued a notice to suspend the 25-year-old, while also ordering him to pay fines for his behaviour within the next three days.
It comes after heavy speculation linking Carrasco with a move to Arsenal, the club he had been previously linked with before opting to move to Dalian Yifang in February 2018.
The Belgian joined Monaco from Genk in 2010, before spending three years at Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone, during which he scored the equalising goal in the 2016 Champions League final against city rivals Real Madrid.
Simeone’s side went on to lose the match on penalties in a match where Carrasco became the first Belgian to score in a European Cup final.
After much speculation surrounding his future in the January 2018 transfer window - where Arsenal came close to securing his services - Carrasco and his team-mate Nicolas Gaitan made the switch to Dalian Yifang.
Gaitan then joined MLS side Chicago Fire earlier this year and, given Carrasco’s latest behaviour, he could be next out the door, with Arsenal once again reportedly interested in his signature.
Unai Emery’s side are favourites to land the winger, a move which may have turned Carrasco’s head, with the Belgian accused of failing to apply himself in training.
Yifang goalkeeper Yu Ziqian has also been penalised for his role in the situation, in which he took to social media to claim that the Arsenal target refused to play in a CSL match and additionally failed to fully commit himself in recent training sessions.
Ziqian was also hit with a suspension and fines, with the club releasing a statement saying he had violated the “regulations on team news management” by releasing "information through social media, causing adverse effects.”
Regarding the behaviour of both players, Dalian Yifang expressed that: “Our club have always attached importance to the construction of the team, and no individual can override the collective.
“The club treats everyone equally. Anyone who goes beyond the team rules and the 'red line' managed by the club will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated."