FC Barcelona Make Contact To Sign Asensio From Real Madrid

Contact has been made between FC Barcelona and Marco Asensio with regard to a possible switch from Real Madrid for the Spain forward, according to a report.

Asensio becomes a free agent in the summer after seven seasons with the Catalans’ bitter rivals and is said to be negotiating a new contract at the Bernabeu.

SPORT says that president Florentino Perez has presented the 27-year-old with a renewal offer but the two parties have not been able to reach an agreement as Asensio’s salary demands are higher than what his current club is willing to pay him.

With less than six months left to run in his current arrangement, Asensio is free to talk to potential new clubs and one of these is FC Barcelona according to the Catalan daily newspaper.

Asensio recently changed agents from Horacio Gaggioli to Jorge Mendes, who enjoys a strong relationship with Barca president Joan Laporta.

While the Mendes player that Barca are most interested in is Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves, who is viewed as a long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets, Barca and Mendes have discussed the possibility of Asensio ending up at Camp Nou.

In times of financial hardships, Barca would be attracted by the prospect of landing a player of Asensio’s quality for free. But there is no known agreement between the Blaugrana and Asensio as the player remains uncertain of his future.

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League is also a potential next destination for serial Champions League winner Asensio, who though starting in yesterday’s 2-0 win against Atheltic Club in La Liga on Sunday, has seen his playing time severely reduced due to the emergence of Brazilian youngsters Vinicius and Rodrygo.

Just like Rodrygo, Asensio was close to signing for Barca while still at Mallorca in 2014. At the time, however, Josep Bartomeu’s board refused to pay €4mn ($4.4mn) for the young prospect who instead wound up in the Spanish capital.

In 2017, this slip up came back to haunt Barca as Asensio scored a pair of sensational goals against them in each leg of the Spanish Super Cup when Madrid ran out 5-1 winners on aggregate.

Later that season, Barca won La Liga back from Madrid but Los Blancos claimed a third consecutive Champions League title.