Liverpool Rumors: Real Madrid Wants Sadio Mane In Exchange For Struggling Star

Marco Asensio’s disappointing run with Real Madrid this season has compelled the club to revisit its options and possibly send him to Liverpool in exchange for Sadio Mane.

Real Madrid’s devastating loss to Alavés on Saturday has caused the club’s management to look at its transfer plans. Los Blancos president Florentino Pérez now realizes that some players in Zinedine Zidane’s squad have to be replaced, particularly Asensio, Spanish outlet Don Balon reported.

The 24-year-old has been in poor form in the La Liga champions’ 2020-21 campaign. The report states that Real Madrid would be please to offer Asensio to Liverpool “as a bargaining chip.”

It has been said that Reds manager Jurgen Klopp has always admired Asensio and Perez is looking to capitalize on the situation by proposing a deal that will send Mane to Madrid.

The outlet also added that with Liverpool now enjoying the exceptional talent of Diogo Jota, the reigning English Premier League champions could possibly consider the deal.

Asensio has continued to frustrate Real Madrid by failing to meet the club’s expectations. In the Alaves match, the former Real Mallorca star started for Zidane but didn’t make much impact on the pitch once again.

It is expected that Zidane would likely to keep his hands off of Asensio’s situation, but reporters pinned the renowned coach down in a recent press conference, AS reported.

According to Zidane, he has grown tired of the media often making theories about how Asensio must perform. The Frenchman suggests that they let his midfielder adjust to the situation and just play his game.

"What you [the media] need to do is stop talking about how he needs to do this, that and the other,” Zidane said. “Just let him play. He has to get back into his stride bit by bit. He has been out injured for a year."

Apart from Asensio, Real Madrid’s recent poor display has been linked to the players’ lack of desire to compete.

However, Zidane remains optimistic that the team will surely get back to its winning ways in no time.

"When you have a bad game, I wouldn’t link that to desire,” the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner pointed out. “A bad performance can happen, but the players’ desire has nothing to do with that.”

“Things are maybe more difficult right now in the sense that we’re struggling for consistency, but at Real Madrid, there have always been difficult moments,” he continued. “I found that as a player, too. But we always overcome them - that’s the most important thing."