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What’s the story?
The hunt for Neymar's replacement in stilling going on at Barcelona. The never ending chase of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele is getting Ernesto Valverde frustrated and with Madrid stronger and stronger, things are falling apart at Barcelona.
According to Express, Barcelona are set to trigger the release clause of Marco Asensio this week. The Read Madrid star has a £72 million release clause and is not Blaugrana's top target for the summer.
Also read: Chelsea star ready to snub Real Madrid and join Barcelona
In case you didn’t know...
Marco Asensio was scouted heavily by Barcelona during his RCD Mallorca days. The young Spaniard was in top form for the B team when he came to light.
He was so impressive for the B-Team that Mallorca promoted him to the senior squad when he was just 17 years old! He continued to impress for the first team and Barcelona made a move to sign him.
A deal was agreed for the youngster for a fee said to be €4.5 million. Reports suggest that Asensio was also keen on joining Barcelona and had already started looking at houses in the area.
Barcelona wanted to pay the fee agreed in instalments while Mallorca wanted the full amount in a lump sum. With the deal stalled, it gave Real Madrid a chance to snap him up, and they swooped in.
Also read: Barcelona and Real Madrid open talks with €100 million star
The heart of the matter
Paris Saint-Germain activated Neymar's release clause €222 million and now Barcelona want to do the same and sign Marco Asensio. The young Spaniard has been in fine form and is regarded as one of the best in the country right now.
Real Madrid are trying to tie him down to a new deal and indirectly increase his release clause to something no club can match.
What’s next?
Barcelona are set to trigger the release clause in the coming days. Real Madrid can do nothing about the situation but try and convince the player not to leave.
Asensio clearly has no intentions of leaving Bernabeu. He already rejected a chance to join Manchester United this and has openly said that he does not think of playing for any other team.
Also read: Real Madrid to make €85 million + Kovacic bid for Barcelona's top target
Author’s Take
Barcelona are just wasting their time by trying to sign Asensio. They failed to sign him when he wanted to join and now when he's settled in well at Real Madrid, they are trying to sign him? There is no way he's leaving the project he's a part of at Bernabeu and join the sinking ship at Camp Nou.
