Liverpool have been served a blow in their pursuit of Marco Asensio after the midfielder revealed he wants to stay at Real Madrid next season.
Jurgen Klopp’s side reportedly failed with a club record €50m (£42m) offer for Asensio in April after he was identified as a player that can help take Liverpool to the next level.
The 21-year-old is currently away with the Spanish U21 side preparing for the European Championships this summer and he is only thinking about earning more playing time at Madrid next season.
“My intention is to stay at Real Madrid and to earn a lot of minutes,” Football Espana quote him as saying at a Spain press conference.
“My goal is to be a starter at Real Madrid, there were moments when I didn’t play, but I wanted to make the most of any chances the coach afforded me and I finished up in good form.
“I wasn’t used to not playing. Yet I worked hard to make the most of the opportunities I got and I was able to finish the season well.”
It was telling that Asensio was picked in the matchday squad ahead of James Rodriguez for the Champions League final last weekend and he came off the bench to score the final goal in their 4-1 win over Juventus.
Asensio, who flourished on loan at Espanyol in 2015/16, impressed whenever he was given the chance to play by Zinedine Zidane and he will now be aiming to build on his 23 league appearances from last season.
In that time only 11 came as a starter but he still managed to score three goals and provide two assists in La Liga as Madrid won the league for the first time in five years.
For more stats on Marco Asensio, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
