Liverpool have reportedly made an astonishing £158million bid for Real Madrid midfielder Marco Asensio according to Mundo Deportivo, which has had mixed reactions from the Anfield faithful on social media.
The Spanish sports website made the claim that Liverpool had made the bid, of which Real Madrid were to study carefully before rejecting it.
The winger has made 53 appearances for the La Liga giants during the 2017/2018 campaign, netting an arguably average figure of 11 goals.
Asensio is regarded as one of the young breakthrough talents in Europe at the age of 22-years-old, having joined Real Madrid in 2016 from Spanish club Espanyol for £7.2 million.
He was selected to join the Spain squad for this summer’s World Cup tournament in Russia, but has only made one appearance so far in an 11 minute cameo.
¡El Liverpool ofrece 180 millones por Asensio!https://t.co/DQi8vm7sX6 por @RogerTorello pic.twitter.com/0jT9B7jU14
— Mundo Deportivo (@mundodeportivo) June 23, 2018
New Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui is a keen admirer of Asensio and will be reluctant to sell the 22-year-old despite such a high bid.
Here is a selection of tweets from Liverpool supporters regarding the reported £158 million bid made for Marco Asensio:
No chance, we're hesitating on spending £12m on "Shaqiri" so £150m on Asensio forget it..#lfc pic.twitter.com/MuzUfbdJWg
— The peoples poet. (@PoetSte) June 23, 2018
IMO I would be absolutely amazed if Liverpool paid £158m for Asensio or any player.. #LFC #Asensio
— Kris Corssen (@KrisCorssen) June 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/a5hmcc90/status/1010515236993097728
https://twitter.com/Lisle_jack/status/1010519011669442562
Marco Asensio to Liverpool for £158 million. Wooo. I’d love that
— Amman Dhaliwal ? (@Amman8793) June 23, 2018
Well if the asensio rumours are true, maybe that will change. If they aren't true then whoever we get could change that too. Recent history isn't our friend for trophies but with the talent we got/getting .. surely Liverpool can't be waiting too much longer.
— Alex Preece (@PreecenatorLFC) June 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/grahambrown18l1/status/1010459591698763778
Maybe this bid just want yo show madrid (and the world football) that we have big fund , serious about next season league/throphy contender . Hope this news was true
— Lancelot LFC (@AndriasApul) June 23, 2018
Asensio reportedly has an eye-watering release clause of £615 million in his Real Madrid contract, meaning Liverpool would have to break the bank to land him in a world-record fee.