Barcelona caused a serious stir in the market during the summer. Regardless of the massive debts that exceed the figure of 1,000,000,000 euros, the Catalans have found a model of how to reconstruct the team and once again become a serious factor both in the domestic championship and in Europe. As many as seven reinforcements have arrived at the Camp Nou in recent months, both expensive and free, but the idea of refreshing and strengthening the roster does not end there.Xavi insists that the club continue to monitor the market closely and look for every opportunity to acquire quality players under favorable economic conditions. So Mundo Deportivo, a newspaper in favor of the Catalan giant and well acquainted with the situation in the Blaugrana, states that the next goal is none other than – Marco Asensio (26)!Barcelona are following Marco Asensio.With his contract expiring next summer, the Blaugrana are again following a player they tried to sign before he moved to Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/nD4taxCJDT— Football España (@footballespana_) September 20, 2022 ‘His massive quality aside, there are factors that explain why Asensio is being watched very closely by Barça. The first is, of course, his current unenviable situation at Real Madrid, with whom he has a contract only until the summer of next year. Since the renewal of cooperation did not happen, speculations about his departure naturally followed each other. There was talk that the club would not stand in his way if an adequate offer arrived, but that did not happen, regardless of the interest of Arsenal, Milan and Newcastle’, the Catalan newspaper reads.Asensio hoped, after it was clear that he would stay at the Bernabeu, that at least his status and playing time could improve. However, that did not happen either. Neither the failed transfer of Kylian Mbappe, nor the injury to Karim Benzema that will follow – nothing significant has changed in Carlo Ancelotti’s attitude toward Asensio.Of course, the meteoric rise of Vinicius Junior, i.e. the fact that Fede Valverde grew into one of the best midfielders in Europe, did not work in his favor either.Regardless of the reduced playing time – he played about 40 minutes on average – Marco Asensio had a solid performance last season. He scored 12 goals and played in several different positions without much fluctuation. And that’s exactly what attracted Xavi’s attention, writes Mundo – his versatility.##NAJAVA_MECA_6660709##The same source further states that the winter market is the last chance for Real to make any money from him. Otherwise, whichever club that agrees personal terms with the player can take him without compensation in June. The upcoming period will be crucial. What works for Barcelona is the very bad attitude of the Real crowd towards Asensio. He is one of the few players who get whistles even when the team is doing well. That ‘little detail’, as well as the fact that he has already spent a long time at the club where he has been since he was 18, could also have an impact when choosing his next destination.Even if the deal does get struck, he would not be the first to pay revenge to his first love by transferring to the ranks of an angry rival.Barça, in a way, should start working on the ‘Marco Asensio’ mission following the upcoming events in Madrid. The player himself does not hide that he is dissatisfied, his body language often reveals it, which is why the aforementioned whistles come from the stands…’What our sources can confirm is that Asensio is being meticulously monitored at the Nou Camp due to his age and level of technical and tactical adaptability. At the age of 26 and hundreds of big games, he belongs to the ranks of very mature players, and yet, he still has many years of top football ahead of him. Those 12 goals last season speak of his quality, and his technical capacity allows him to respond to any task the coach sets before him successfully. So, if nothing changes during the winter between Real and Asensio, Barcelona plan to take action. There is another factor that should not be underestimated: the good relationship between Joan Laporta and his agent Jorge Mendes’, underlines Mundo.They follow Asensio [M.D] #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/G8gcsYB5uw— Barca DNA (@AminuMujahid3) September 19, 2022 Asensio is in a slight decline, to put it mildly, his career has been stagnant for two or three years (in contrast to the period when he was worth 90 million euros and when Jurgen Klopp wanted him in Liverpool), but it’s clear that Barcelona have an idea of what to do with him. And they showed during the summer that they are not joking with such things.Now, it is not necessary to explain how much a possible transfer would shake the Spanish soil. The best information about this will be when the last time the transfer from the Bernabeu to the Nou Camp took place. Do you remember? It was back in the last century, specifically in 1996. Back then Luis Enrique raised a huge storm in the Pyrenees.Before him, Lucien Miller took the same, untrodden path back in 1965. And that would be it when we talk about post-war football.A lit match waving over a canister of gasoline. Who will drop it? Real? Barca? Asensio himself? We will just have to wait and see.
