Tottenham are set to demand that Real Madrid include forward Marco Acensio as part of any transfer deal for Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen.
Real are preparing a bid of £45 million plus promising midfielder Dani Ceballos for Eriksen, but Spurs prefer a player who is more experienced and proven at the highest level than Ceballos, and are demanding that Asensio forms part of the deal, even if that means initially only a season long loan.
That poses a problem for Real, and could undermine any potential deal, because manager Zinedine Zidane is unwilling to let Asensio, who has 22 full international caps for Spain, leave the club, having already turned down an approach from Juventus him.
23-year old Asensio, who can play either as a winger, or an attacking midfielder, joined the Madrid side from Mallorca in 2014, and has won two Champions League winners’ medals during his time at the Bernabeu.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.