Why Marco Asensio link to Barcelona makes little sense

The international break not only brings a halt to club football, it also brings a halt to the countless storylines a season can deliver.

When that happens, what ends up taking its place is speculation surrounding the future of certain players. In other words, transfer rumors.

And so its come to pass with the latest rumor linking Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio with a possible move to Barcelona. Mundo Deportivo reported that the Catalans were keeping tabs on Asensio with his contract set to run out at the end of the season.

Asensio’s future with Real Madrid was in serious doubts heading into the season with the assumption being he would be somewhere else by the close of the transfer window. But the right offer never came along and so he was more or less forced to stay.

Barcelona has been linked with a number of players over the last couple of months. Some made sense, and they happened, while others made no sense at all. The Asensio link fits the latter category.

The controversy of moving from Real Madrid to Barcelona aside, simply looking at it in terms of necessity and fit, a potential move makes little sense for all parties involved.

The main reason why Asensio was angling for a move away had to do with the amount of playing time, or lack thereof, he was getting with the Spanish and European champions. An issue he wouldn’t see fixed at Barcelona.

Barcelona already count on the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres on the wing. Even with the possible exit of Memphis Depay, there would simply be too many players ahead of him on the depth chart. That’s without takin into consideration players out on loan like Alex Collado and Abde Ezzalzouli.

The reason why Barcelona would be interested is they perhaps see a market opportunity. After all, he would arrive as a free agent. In their minds, it also could be rectifying a mistake. They were interested in Asensio back when he was with Mallorca. They lost out on him to Real Madrid as they were unprepared to pay what their rivals offered. Instead, Barcelona went and signed Douglas.

While Asensio has arguably not reached the heights of what many expected of him, he is by no means a bad player. The 26-year-old still has plenty left to offer. The question then becomes whether or not Barcelona believe it is more than what Raphinha, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres can offer.

If the answer is not a resounding “yes,” then Barcelona should focus elsewhere. They need a left-back despite the good start to the season by Alejandro Balde. They also need a defensive midfielder with Sergio Busquets leaving at the end of the season.

Asensio to Barcelona seems like a long shot but he’s certainly not outright rejecting a possible move.

“It’s just that I have not thought about [joining Barca] or considered it,” Asensio said. “Honestly, right now, I can’t give you an answer. I don’t know.”