Asensio: one for the present as well as the future
Marco Asensio was officially presented by Real Madrid at the Bernabéu on Tuesday. Like Álvaro Morata, the 20-year-old was given an unveiling with all the trimmings - and it's little wonder. His sweet left foot has left everyone purring this pre-season, not least his boss: the man who picks the team. Zinedine Zidane's comments throughout the period have betrayed a particular weakness for the football Asensio has been producing.
Asensio is ready
And there can be no doubting that, right from the opening match, the Real Mallorca youth product has demonstrated a degree of desire, self-confidence and ability well out of the ordinary; a man on a mission to show that he doesn't need another season out on loan, that he's completely ready to be a part of the Real first-team squad. And I really think he is. His performance in a top-level fixture like the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla was proof of that.
He's got the lot...
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that it had been a long while since I'd seen such a complete young talent. Going forward, the boy's got the lot: his wonderful reading of the game allows him to link up with his team-mates with ease, he delivers a fantastic final ball, he can beat a player and he knows where the back of the net is, too.
Who knows just how far the lad can go; that depends on how he develops and matures as a footballer. In an ideal world, he'll be able to do that at Real. We're all aware of the competition for places in attack at Los Blancos, but that's where it'll be down to Zidane to manage his resources, keeping everyone firing on all cylinders and staking their claim.