Can Asensio fill in the void left by Ronaldo's exit?

Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo decided to go their own separate ways this summer. The Whites announced that they agreed to sell one of their greatest ever players to Juventus.

They did so for a fee of 112 million Euros. The 33-year-old had been one of Real’s most consistent players in the past decade or so. Hence, it will be extremely difficult to replace him.

However, the reigning European champions were indeed linked with a number of big name players to fill in the void. Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Eden Hazard were among the most strongly linked players to the club.

While the former two have decided to stay put to Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea will probably not allow Eden Hazard to leave despite the player publicly hinting at wanting to taste a new challenge.

Real Madrid now face a dilemma about whom to trust regarding filling the huge gap left by Ronaldo.

The Whites are now accustomed to the brilliance of an in-house name, Marco Asensio.

The 22 year old is one of the world’s best young players. It’s extremely hard to believe that Real Madrid managed to grab his services for just £3.5 million in 2015. Three years ago, Florentino Perez managed to strike a deal with Palma de Mallorca that could be one of football’s biggest bargains. Since then, Asensio has been nothing short of spectacular.

In his first season after being signed by Real, he was sent on loan to Espanyol. In his opening campaign of playing in Spain’s first division, the youngster managed to nail down to a starting spot. He appeared in 38 matches for the Barcelona based club that season. He scored four goals and assisted 15 more in the process.

Just one year after buying and loaning him out, French manager Zinedine Zidane decided to call up Asensio to join first team action.

The Spaniard then started Real Madrid’s UEFA Super Cup clash against Sevilla and made his mark by opening the scoring. He struck a long range shot in a match that Real Madrid went on to win 3-2.

Zinedine Zidane kept his faith in Marco Asensio during the 2016-17 campaign. The former Real Madrid coach decided to deploy him in the starting eleven on several occasions, while he was also Zinedine Zidane’s preferred substitute along with Lucas Vazquez.

He appeared 38 times across all competitions for Real Madrid in his debut season. He added 10 goals to his name apart from four assists. He played a huge role in Real’s most successful season till date that helped them win five trophies.

The statistics kept on improving for Asensio. In his second season with the club, he played on 53 occasions. In 2017-18 he added 11 goals and six assists as Real Madrid lifted their third successive Champions League trophy.

The left winger was tipped to be Ronaldo’s successor Real Madrid but even he wouldn’t have expected the privilege to get to him so early.

Julen Lorpetegui also called Asensio for the FIFA World Cup. The 51 year old’s appointment as Real Madrid coach has Asensio buzzing. The 22-year-old is set to play an even bigger role this season with the Whites.

To make things better, Isco, with whom Asensio shares an amazing chemistry will be playing more often as well. Asensio could be the outright exploiter of the left wing under Lorpetegui.

Keeping his stats in mind and also the fact that he was not even a regular starter, he does deserve his chance to give a go at filling Ronaldo’s boots this season. While he may not score fifty goals a season, a target of thirty or thirty five should be good enough.

The successor to Roanldo is already in the line-up?

Marco Asensio is one of the most budding prospects in football today. At the age of 22, he has one of football’s most decorated trophy cabinets at home. Asensio deserves to be compared with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

The left winger will certainly have a better career than his competitors if he is allowed to play more frequently in his preferred position.

With a managerial change and major tactical overhaul, this could be the right time for Asensio to establish his authority at the Santiago Bernabeu.