- Man Utd have been linked with a move for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale
- Welshman’s injury problems have reportedly put Mourinho off
- A move for Asensio instead has been touted
- READ MORE: Bad news for Man City, Mourinho receives triple Man Utd injury boost
As they continue to chase down rivals Man City in the Premier League title race this season, Man Utd have reportedly set their sights on a Real Madrid star as a possible future reinforcement.
Jose Mourinho seemingly has countless options at his disposal in attack, with the likes of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata supporting the main striker.
However, it’s been claimed that the Portuguese tactician is targeting a move for another attacking player, with Don Balon, as re-reported by The Express, suggesting that the Red Devils are keen on a move for Marco Asensio.
The 21-year-old has shown his class for the Spanish giants on a number of occasions, while he’s got seven goals and two assists in 21 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
Asensio has much more room for improvement and development, and he arguably has a big future ahead of him. In turn, it would make sense for Los Blancos to keep hold of him and allow him to mature and get better with more playing time.
However, as per the report it seems United will test their resolve to keep him as with Gareth Bale’s injury problems putting them off, they could target his Madrid teammate instead.
The Welshman has been restricted to just 10 appearances so far this season due to ongoing injury setbacks, while he has seen his total number of outings decrease over the last three years to raise real alarm bells.
He’s gone from 48, 31 to 27 appearances last season as he’s struggled with issue after issue, and so it would come as no surprise if Man Utd did switch their focus elsewhere.
It’s added that Madrid have ambitions of snapping up Neymar at some point in the future, and so perhaps they’ll need to raise funds with the sale of a player like Asensio, which would also create space in the squad for the Brazilian.