Barcelona's loss is Real Madrid's gain. Marco Asensio grew up as a fan of the Catalan club, but ended up joining Los Blancos instead and marked his competitive debut with a stunning strike in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla on Tuesday night. So who is the club's new midfield maestro?
Asensio was born in 1996 to a Spanish father and a Dutch mother on the island of Mallorca. A talented youth player, he was scouted by both of Spain's big two teams but signed for local club Mallorca instead. Years later, however, Barca and Madrid would come calling again.
The midfielder made his debut for Mallorca B as a junior in Spain's Tercera Division, but was quickly promoted to the senior side and appeared for the first time in Spain's second tier in October 2013.
He went on to win a starting spot under Valeri Karpin towards the end of the 2013-14 season and was wanted by both of Spain's big two teams.
Barca moved quickly to reach an agreement with the player and it looked like the midfielder would end up at Camp Nou for a fee of around €4 million. However, the two clubs could not agree on how the money would be paid. Barca wanted the deal to be broken down into variables; Mallorca sought to receive the money up front.
So the negotiations were frozen and Madrid took advantage, sealing the player's signature for a fee of €3.9m. Barca, in the meantime, were happy to spend €5.5m on Douglas - one of the worst signings in their entire history.
Asensio, who can play on either wing or in a central role as an attacking midfielder or playmaker, was sent on loan to Espanyol in 2015-16 and enjoyed a superb season at Cornella, participating in 55 per cent of the goals for the Catalan club as they avoided relegation.
In total, the midfielder managed four goals and 10 assists in his debut campaign in La Liga and recently impressed Zidane in pre-season, with a superb showing against Chelsea in particular, and despite fierce compeititon for places at Madrid, the French coach admitted he hoped to keep the 20-year-old at the club in 2016-17.
“He's happy here and he's showing that he really wants to play," Zidane said. "If he stays, he knows what the situation is - he knows how things are here and the players he will be competing with for a place. I'm delighted with what he's doing. But anything could happen between now and the 31st. He's very young, but I'm not his friend, I'm his coach."
Days later, Madrid sanctioned the sale of Jese to Paris Saint-Germain and in Zidane's first XI of the new season, Asensio was a surprise starter against Sevilla. Unfazed by making his debut in a big European final, he unleashed an unstoppable left-footed drive that sailed into the top corner to give Real the lead. It was a goal any of the side's stars would have been delighted to score.
Asensio's agent revealed this week that he had received offers from England, Italy and Germany as well as around half the clubs in La Liga for the new season, but said he is almost certain to stay at Real.
"What I know is that he has a 99 per cent chance to stay at Madrid," Horacio Gaggioli said. "There's a one per cent chance he could leave."
But that was a few days ago and after his glorious goal on Tuesday, it now looks like he will be staying 100%. And Barca must wish they had paid up after all.
.....
- Goal