Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
KOP £158M ASENSIO RAID
Real star will be new Coutinho
LIVERPOOL are ready to pay a staggering British record £158million for Real Madrid playmaker Marco Asensio.
The Spain star (left) is tipped to be one of the biggest talents of his generation, and Reds boss Jurgen Klopp wants him to replace Phillipe Coutinho. Reports in Spain claim
Liverpool have contacted Madrid officials to open official dialogue after making a “firm offer” for the 22-year-old.
That has not been dismissed out of hand by the Spanish giants, who would use the transfer fee to fund a mega-money move for Paris SaintGermain’s Neymar.
Asensio – currently at the World Cup in Russia – has been tipped to become THE player of his generation.
But, despite playing in 53 of Madrid’s 62 matches last season, many of his outings were off the bench.
One of those was against Liverpool in the Champions League Final 3-1 win over Jurgen
Klopp’s men in Kiev.
Asensio came on as an 89th-minute replacement for Karim Benzema – the last of Zinedine Zidane’s substitutions before the French coach left the club.
The youngster was known to be becoming frustrated at his lack of starts last season.
But Liverpool face huge hurdles to overcome if they are to land Asensio.
One of those is the arrival of new boss Julen Lopetegui, who replaced Zidane.
But perhaps the biggest is the mind-blowing €700m release clause Asensio has in his contract, which runs out in 2023.