Real Madrid slap huge asking price on Marco Asensio amid Chelsea interest

Real Madrid would make a 3000% profit on the player

As Chelsea prepare for the inevitability of losing Eden Hazard, most likely next summer, and almost certainly to Real Madrid, the London club have started scouting around for potential replacements. And it seems that there is a potential suitor at Real Madrid of all places in the form of Marco Asensio. The Spain international has risen to stardom over the past three seasons, scoring banger after banger for the European champions. After signing from Mallorca in 2014 for a measly €4m, Asensio has earned himself a place in Real Madrid's starting XI after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. Chelsea have shown an interest in the 22-year-old, and Madrid could be willing to let him go as early as January, according to Marca.  However, Chelsea would have to front a bid of at least €120m before Florentino Perez considered parting ways with Asensio. Fees like this have become the norm now, but it's still a huge sum to spend mid season. Chelsea will presumably reevaluate when the January window comes around - if they are still in with a chance of winning the Premier League, they could see it as a worthy investment. If the transfer were to go through, Madrid would have made a 3000% profit on Asensio after just four seasons, some of which he spent out on loan. And the move might not have happened had it not been for Asensio's fellow islander and Spanish tennis sensation Rafael Nadal. "I called Rafa Nadal and asked him to talk to his uncle Miguel Angel, who was Mallorca's sports director," Perez told Spanish radio station Onda Cero back in June 2017. "[I told Nadal] to tell him that we wanted to buy him [Asensio]. He behaved perfectly and we closed the deal quickly."