Real Madrid have turned down Liverpool’s initial bid to sign Marco Asensio, according to reports from Spain. Mundo Deportivo (h/t The Mirror) claims that the Spanish giants have rejected a £158million offer for the 22-year-old and have also claimed that the player is happy at the club.

Asensio is currently with the Spanish World Cup squad and has been linked with a move away from the La Liga giants as he searched for more minutes on the pitch.

The youngster has a release clause of £616m and his contract runs until 2023, so we would have to pay a bomb to sign the attacking midfielder.

The Spaniard wasn’t committing his future to any club as he stated that the move to Liverpool and “that sort of thing” would be discussed only after the World Cup.

Asensio is certainly one of the hottest properties in the world of football and it would be incredible if we can land the player.

The Spaniard can play in a number of positions in the attack and would provide Jurgen Klopp with a number of options.

However, his asking price will just go higher with every game in the World Cup and we just might get priced out of a move for the 22-year-old.

Read more: Liverpool prepared to allow 25-year old to leave the club with Burnley leading the race to sign him

Real too will be difficult to negotiate with but with a new manager at the helm and Real being Real, anything is possible, like we saw with Zinedine Zidane abruptly leaving the side.