Bright Start Sees Asensio Gunning for Real Madrid Starting Spot

This summer is yet to see Real Madrid make a big-money marquee signing, ignoring a transfer policy that has been rigidly adhered to over the years by club president Florentino Perez, and yet it is difficult to think of a more complete set of players in competition for first-team places in world football. 

Zinedine Zidane’s squad is tough to improve after managing to win the 11th Champions League in Los Blancos’ history, but early signs suggest that further squad depth is set to come from an unlikely source this season - canteranos. 

Canteranos is the Spanish term for home-grown players, with clubs in La Liga placing contrasting importance on their academies. Athletic Club must ensure a consistent crop of Basque talent, given their club policy on signing players, while Real Madrid’s youth options have usually ended up playing second fiddle to, and supplementing, the ‘Galactico’ players of the modern era. 

Things have looked different this season, with Zidane appearing to be prepared to allow his young players to shoulder responsibility. It is clear that age will be just a number at the Santiago Bernabeu - if you are good enough, you are old enough.  

Purchased from Real Mallorca’s academy in 2014, Marco Asensio is set to be a chief benefactor of this new philosophy during the current campaign. During the capital club’s 3-2 extra-time win against Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup, Real Madrid boasted a starting line-up that not only had an average age of 24, but one that had five canteranos involved on the night too. 

Marco Asensio was one of those talents, in light of Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury woes, he grabbed the opportunity given to him by his coach with a postage-stamp finish from range, announcing himself on to the first-team scene after a handful of bright friendly performances that could be unfairly overlooked simply due to their uncompetitive nature. 

Many would have taken one look at his goal and declare that a star has been born, but Asensio has been around for much longer than that and is no stranger to being a key first-team cog in a top-flight machine. Last season, Espanyol benefitted from a season-long loan deal for the ex-Real Mallorca youngster, which saw the 20-year-old pick up 10 assists and four goals in 34 top-flight appearances, as well as an impressive 7.03 average WhoScored rating. 

Asensio was a key creative force for an Espanyol side that only scored 40 goals last campaign, playing a role in 35% of them, completing an impressive 1.6 dribbles per game and picking up a similar amount of free-kicks too. Indeed, since the start of last season, he has made more key passes from set-piece situations (24) than any other player aged 21 and under in Europe’s top five leagues. 

Young players are often put under scrutiny for their inability to perform consistently, despite whatever flashes of inspiration they can provide, but a stable average rating goes only towards suggesting that Asensio can not only be as creative as the other statistics spell out, but also a consistent deputy whenever called upon by Zidane - something that the may already have over his illustrious bit-part competitors of Isco and James Rodriguez. 

James has been criticised for not reaching the potential expected of him after signing for Real Madrid, but Asensio has a desire and the work rate to achieve where the Colombian has failed, doing his talking on the pitch as opposed to insisting consistently that he wishes to fight for a first-team place in pre-season press conferences. 

After grabbing his first big opportunity with both hands in the UEFA Super Cup win, Zidane opted to field Asensio for the second occasion in Real Madrid’s La Liga opener against Real Sociedad, as Ronaldo continues to work his way back to recovery. Again, the 20-year-old was deployed out on the left-hand side of the attack and did the simple things well in a tidy 7.62-rated 66 minutes of play for the visitors, registering a 94% pass completion rate in a side that was missing a few key players from its spine, such as Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric. 

Though Asensio was sat a little deeper than he may usually like when in possession, the Spaniard managed a touch per minute and a half at the Anoeta and was not wasteful on the ball as Real Madrid saw out a steely, professional away performance in a comfortable 3-0 win. When released into a dangerous area of the field, this time by a searching diagonal pass from Raphael Varane on 40 minutes, Asensio highlighted the reason why everyone is so excited about his potential and pounced upon his sole chance of the game.

After pulling off his defender, the young Spaniard plucked Varane’s pass out of the air with a calm first touch, before driving forward to draw Geronimo Rulli off of his line. With the Argentine goalkeeper suitably positioned in no man’s land, a deft chip from around 18 yards was enough to lift the ball into the back of the net and add to a positive selection headache for Zidane. 

Zidane may have wanted Alvaro Morata to be Real Madrid’s heroic prodigal son for the current campaign, after re-signing the forward from Juventus this summer, but Asensio looks set to be the welcome injection into a side that could fall guilty of resting on their laurels after winning yet another trophy under the Frenchman’s stewardship. 

Should any player not give enough to the cause, Asensio has already shown that he is not afraid of the occasion nor pressure and will take any opportunities given to him with both hands, as Real Madrid’s dressing room of egos is met by the humbling presence of a bright young talent who will fight for his place.

Does Marco Asensio warrant a regular starting spot for Real Madrid this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below