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Aston Villa offer made to 'outstanding' Marco Asensio as Fabrizio Romano update shatters transfer hope
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Aston Villa have reportedly been beaten in the race to sign Marco Asensio but Alan Hutton admits it was always going to be tough to sign the exit-bound Real Madrid attacker.
Asensio, 27, is set to become a free agent at the end of the month, ending an eight-year spell at the Bernabeu in which he won three La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues.
Writing via his personal Twitter account on 30 May, Fabrizio Romano reported that Villa were pushing hard to sign the Spain international after submitting an offer to him.
However, it seems that proposal has been turned down by Asensio with RMC Sport reporting on 1 June that Paris Saint-Germain were aiming to land him ahead of Villa and then Romano adding on 4 June that a verbal agreement is in place for the Spaniard to head to France’s capital.
Hutton always knew there’d be a lot of clubs trying to sign Asensio, a player who he rates and who he believes Unai Emery would have had a very good idea about.
Speaking to Villa News, Hutton said: “I think Emery knows him so that always helps.
“Is he going to have a queue of teams waiting for him? Absolutely.
“He’s an outstanding footballer so he’s not just going to have Aston Villa waiting for him, there are going to be other Premier League teams and foreign clubs too.
“He won’t be short of offers and as you say, it’ll be a free transfer.
“It’s really difficult to decide or even look at where he’ll end up. It’s going to come down to what teams put something on the table for him.”
Asensio played 51 times in all competitions for Real Madrid this season, scoring 12 goals and supplying eight assists.
Real won the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Copa Del Rey this season but Asensio didn’t start any of those games.
In other Aston Villa news, the club could be set to receive an “unbelievable” cash prize.