Real Madrid attacking midfielder Marco Asensio remains in an uncertain position at the Bernabeu as he heads towards the end of his contract.
The Spain international has been unlucky with injuries in recent years, and it’s led to him losing his place as a regular in Madrid’s starting line up.
Still, there’s no doubt Asensio is a potentially big talent, as he showed when he first burst onto the scene as a youngster four or five years ago.
Intriguingly, it seems there’s now genuine talk of Barcelona swooping in to raid their rivals Real for the signing of Asensio as a free agent next summer, and Fabrizio Romano has weighed in on the situation.
Writing in his CaughtOffside column via Substack, Romano said: “Towards the end of the summer, Marco Asensio was trying to find a solution with his agents for a new club.
“He held talks with some English clubs, but there wasn’t the right proposal, so he decided to stay with Real Madrid.
“Still, it’s not an easy situation as he wants to be an important player. He’s out of contract in 2023, and there’s nothing close between him and Real Madrid to sign a new deal. There’s every chance he will leave at the end of the season.
“Interestingly, when he was asked about Barcelona, Asensio said he didn’t know. And then when he was asked to rule out joining Barcelona, he still said he didn’t know.
“He couldn’t give an answer. Asensio couldn’t rule out joining Barcelona – it’s a shocking answer, as it would be a shocking move to see him move from Real Madrid to Barcelona.
“His agent Jorge Mendes has a great relationship with Barca president Joan Laporta, so let’s see what happens – at the moment nothing is decided.”
It’s not often we see players move between these two big rivals, though there have been a few notable names to do so.
Asensio could do well to consider other options, however, unless he wants to tarnish his reputation with Los Blancos fans forever.