Rumour Mongering: Everybody Wants Marco Asensio (Except Real Madrid)

Young attacking midfielder Marco Asensio isn’t getting nearly as much playing time at Real Madrid this season as he’d like. He has 20 league appearances so far, but only 11 of them have come as starts. And that has led to a situation where Asensio is actively seeking a move away from the Spanish giants, who he believes don’t value him.

Or at least that’s what Diario Gol claim, with the Spanish rumour mongers suggesting Asensio feels as though Madrid don’t want or have room for him as a player despite that he’s scored six goals and four assists in the league—good for a goal involvement every 109 minutes—and has regularly been one of their best when he plays.

They further claim almost every big club outside of Spain do want Asensio, with a list including Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus, and Bayern Munich all said to be ready to bid for the player in the summer. It’s probably best for fans of those clubs to take these rumours with a heaping helping of salt—and not just because of the source.

In addition to Diario Gol’s questionable track-record as a news source, the marginally more reliable Mundo Deportivo recently claimed Madrid turned down a bid of €150M for Asensio in January. Even if there’s some truth in these new reports—perhaps based on information from the player or his agent—it seems clear Madrid do value him.

In that case, these new reports could be a simple case of the player angling for minutes or an improved contract by making it look like he’s ready and willing to push for a move elsewhere in the summer. Or it could always just be Diario Gol making things up. Either way, Asensio probably isn’t going anywhere.