Juventus Transfers: Why Marco Asensio would make no sense

Juventus won’t have much money to work with this summer, but they are still expected to make some upgrades to their squad after falling out of the title race this season. Last summer, we saw Juve circumvent the problems of the pandemic by either making swap deals (Miralem Pjanic for Arthur Melo) or signing players on loan with options/obligations to buy, such as Federico Chiesa and Weston McKennie.

So we should see more swaps and loans before the 2021-2022 season. And one swap deal proposed involves Juventus acquiring Marco Asensio from Real Madrid, as per Tuttosport’s Fabio Riva (article in Italian).

Asensio is having a rough season for Real Madrid after missing most of the last campaign with an ACL tear. He did score four goals in four straight games at one point, but, as a whole, it has been an uneven campaign for the left-footed right winger.

The Andalusian could reportedly be acquired with Rodrigo Bentancur heading back the other way. But this swap deal doesn’t make sense. For either team!

Marco Asensio would not be an ideal fit for Juventus

Let’s quickly look at Real’s perspective first. They could use some midfield depth, but why would they want Bentancur? He is not comfortable on the ball playing out of the press, and that’s required at Real Madrid. Bentancur works hard and defends well, but he does not have the technical quality to play for Los Blancos.

Now for Asensio. He wouldn’t even fit Juve unless they were forced to sell Paulo Dybala, and he would be a significant downgrade on Dybala. Asensio is not as quick, nor as productive. He has a stronger foot and is a good crosser, but it’s not like he would play on the left wing either. He could play as the right-sided striker next to Cristiano Ronaldo with two up top, but that’s the only way he fits Juve. Because the Biacnoneri already have a promising right winger in Dejan Kulusevski.

Juventus need to focus on a true striker if they cannot keep Alvaro Morata. Asensio is a right winger, attacking midfielder, or support striker. He could be an asset to Juve, but not at the price Real will ask for. They will surely want a better player than Bentancur and would drive a hard bargain. I could see Matthijs de Ligt being the only player that interests them, and Juventus obviously would not make that trade.

Asensio is a decent player who can be productive in the right system. I don’t think that fit is with Juve, and if you want to acquire a player with Asensio’s wages and asking price, you need to have a good plan for him. Consider any deal for Asensio next to impossible.