Real Madrid seek more as £158m Liverpool bid for star is rejected

Real Madrid have rejected Liverpool’s opening offer of £158million for Spain star Marco Asensio, according to reports in the Spanish media.

Barcelona-based paper Mundo Deportivo reported on Saturday that Liverpool had lodged a huge €180m bid for the Spain star and that Real were studying the offer.

The Reds were claimed to have targeted a move for Asensio after seeing their bid to prise Nabil Fekir from Lyon fall short after a disagreement over the fee, owing to a long-standing knee issue the player has.

However, Jurgen Klopp’s bid to bring the player to Anfield has been rejected with Mundo Deportivo reporting that Liverpool’s £158million offer has now been rejected – but claims the Reds could yet sign the player if they increase their initial bid.

It’s also suggested, however, that Asensio is happy to stay at Madrid following the appointment of Julen Lopetegui as manager and hopes to have an increased role next season after finding his game-time limited under Zinedine Zidane.

Asensio, who is under contract at the Bernabeu until 2023, has a €700m (£616m) release clause in his deal.

Asked about a potential move to earlier this week, Asensio appeared open minded about the possibility of a move to Anfield.

“Liverpool? When the World Cup is over, we’ll talk about that sort of thing, now I’m focused on selection for Spain,” he said.

Discussing interest in his client, his agent Horacio Gaggioli confirmed bids has been made for his client before the Champions League final.

“Madrid have received two offers for Marco Asensio, up to €150m, but the club rejected them,” he told Cadena SER.

“You can imagine that they come from England because they can afford it without any problems. They could even raise it.”

While Asensio appears to have emerged as Liverpool’s main transfer target after the failure to sign Fekir, it remains to be seen if they will increase their reported bid for the player.

Despite his lack of regular starts, Asensio featured in 53 games in all competitions for Los Blancos last season, scoring 11 goals and providing six assists.

 

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