Aston Villa face Marco Asensio transfer decision as route back to Spain emerges
They say you should never fall in love with a loanee, but Marco Asensio is making that quite difficult for those of an Aston Villa persuasion lately. The Spaniard's brace in the win over Chelsea last weekend was followed by another Villa Park double on Friday night as Villa eventually eased past Cardiff City to progress into the FA Cup quarter final.
Asensio combined yet again with fellow January loanee Marcus Rashford to open the scoring and then provided another shortly after from just inside the penalty area to maintain Villa's excellent home form and ensure that they remain very much a live contender to lift club football's oldest trophy for the first time since 1957.
Playmaker Asensio wouldn't have claimed the headlines in such a way that high profile Rashford did upon Villa signing him in the winter transfer window, but he has made a significant impact having been chased by Unai Emery for some time. Finally, Emery lured him to Villa from his former club PSG.
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The lay of the land back in the French capital is uncertain for Asensio, who explained how he wanted to have a crack at English football having been incredibly successful in France and Spain prior to his latest career move; PSG boss and Asensio's compatriot Luis Enrique was open to letting him go in January and it has cast doubt over his future in Ligue 1.
Asensio has a contract at PSG until next summer and, at 29, he faces a significant summer in his career. Reports in his native Spain, where he was highly successful with former club Real Madrid, claim that he has attracted interest ahead of the summer window from Basque club Real Sociedad, who like Asensio's versatility. They could lose Takefusa Kubo in the summer.
There is much for Villa to deliberate, too; while there is no option or obligation to buy Asensio from PSG, who would be open to selling the player this summer, it remains to be seen what their chances of sealing a permanent deal are with a player who is clearly enjoying the here and now in Birmingham.
It's likely, though, that Villa's chances would rest on them securing some form of European football again next year; under Emery, they've reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League and are currently in the last 16 of the Champions League this term. They head to Club Brugge on Tuesday evening.
