Manchester City are reported to have shown some interest in Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio.
90min have claimed that the Premier League champions are one of several clubs to have looked at the Spain international, who is set to leave the Bernabeu.
The player’s contract is expiring at the end of next month, meaning he’s about to become a free agent.
It seems there is a bit of a scramble breaking out over Asensio, who has won 16 trophies with Real, including three league titles and three Champions Leagues.
Aston Villa appear to be leading the race for the 27-year-old. They are said to have offered a contract (via Daily Mail).
Villa will compete in the UEFA Conference League next season and are looking to bolster their squad. Unai Emery obviously knows the qualities of Asensio quite well having seen him in La Liga.
Apparently City have also show interest in Asensio, as well as Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Marseille
Asensio has struggled for minutes this season. He’s actually made 50 appearances across all competitions. But he’s played just under 2000 minutes, indicating he’s been coming off the bench a lot.
Villa will be hoping to beat off the competition to sign Asensio.
But the player may well be reluctant to swap the Champions League for the Conference League.
City, of course, will be able to offer Champions League football next season.
But Asensio would have a difficult job becoming a regular, given Pep Guardiola has quality options like Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Bernardo Silva at his disposal.
Interestingly, Asensio is managed by the agent Jorge Mendes, who looks after two current City stars in Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva.
Marco Asensio to Manchester City may become possible if Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva left
It is hard to see City actually coming in for Asensio this summer. Although he may be a temptation given he would not require a transfer fee.
It would only really make sense if both Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva left the Etihad.
If Gundogan went, Phil Foden would potentially be used centrally more often. We have already started to see him move inside lately.
But for the moment it looks like Villa are in a good position to land Asensio.
It may well be that they tie up a deal quickly, ahead of what will be a long season in 2023/24.
