Real Madrid News
Real Madrid winger’s future not yet resolved, a three-year deal could be offered
Marco Asensio’s future at Real Madrid continues to remain uncertain. The 26-year-old, who had been out of favour under Carlo Ancelotti earlier this season, still has no clear solution over the same.
Although he was a part of the starting XI against RB Leipzig in the recent UEFA Champions League outing, he will likely return to his usual bench role when the team takes on Girona in La Liga.
As far as the player is concerned, even though he was mulling an exit at one point, he wants to continue at the Bernabeu, despite flirting with the idea of playing for Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona. But for now, there is no significant movement in that regard.
As reported by Diario AS, Real Madrid are willing to hand him a new three-year deal albeit without a major improvement in the salary.
The report highlights that the winger is also now much more open to continuing his stay at the club. However, at the moment, a resolution over his future has still not been arrived at.
Despite the lack of minutes, Asensio has put in decent performances of late, having provided two assists and a goal in each of his last three outings, which came against Leipzig, Sevilla and Elche.
What is even more impressive is that he returned with those figures against the La Liga teams despite playing combined 23 minutes.
As for the game against Leipzig, while Asensio did get an assist, his performance was not up to scratch. Despite that, Ancelotti praised the winger after the game. “He played well, he suffered like everyone else, and he gave an assist,” said the Italian.
The main bone of contention during contract talks in the past had been Asensio’s wage demands. While Real Madrid had decided to walk away from talks at one point, they are now willing to hand him a three-year deal, but with little salary increment. Whether he finds such a condition acceptable remains to be seen.
Dani Ceballos is one of the players who has Real Madrid on the fence after his recent resurgence. The club appeared certain to part ways with the player during the commencement of the 2022/23 season but no longer find the decision as straightforward.
According to reports from MARCA, Real Madrid are in no hurry to renew Ceballos’ contract. Though his deal runs out in the summer, the Merengues prefer to focus fully on the competitions they are alive in instead of entering auctions for his renewal.
Ceballos has given Los Blancos the signal that his priority is to stay and is waiting for an offer from the board. However, nobody from the administration has contacted him yet.
Sniffing a moment of opportunity, Atletico Madrid have entered the scene and conveyed their interest in signing the midfield star. Los Rojiblancos have already called his entourage twice in recent weeks and a move away from the Bernabeu cannot be ruled out.
At 26 years of age, the Spaniard wishes for regular starts and playing time. It would be difficult for such demands to be met in Real Madrid owing to the sheer number of young prodigies rising in the middle of Los Blancos.
Come next season, Ceballos could be lost in the mix of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and veterans like Toni Kroos, while Jude Bellingham could also arrive.
Ceballos has made 19 appearances for the defending champions in La Liga this season, providing one assist in that duration. At just 10 starts and 44 minutes averaged per game, however, his role is clearly centred around the bench.
Moving to Atletico Madrid could thus work well in his favour for he is almost guaranteed playing time in Simeone’s system which is in dire need of a quality attacking midfielder.
The player is currently on international duty with La Roja for the Euro qualifiers. In the team’s opener against Norway, he came on at the hour mark and made a strong cameo with three key passes and a big chance created.
