A few weeks ago, Marco Asensio perhaps didn’t know he needed Aston Villa. For the Premier League club, attracting a big name who has since been the perfect tonic was a dream scenario. Yet here we are: Asensio loves Villa, and Villa loves him.
Once a serial champion with Real Madrid, the Spaniard, half of whose family is Dutch, has netted seven goals in his last five matches across all competitions after joining the team on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in February. In just 71 minutes over two legs against Club Brugge, he scored three times as a resurgent Villa made the Champions League quarterfinals. Notable is Asensio’s instant chemistry with another loanee, Marcus Rashford, in the offensive third of the field.
Born in Mallorca, Asensio went on to make his career at Real. While not the biggest star at Los Blancos, he spent nearly a decade there—only interrupted by early spells at Mallorca and Espanyol—as a dependable number 10, and he was on the scoresheet in Real’s 12th European Cup win over Juventus in 2017. Unable to stand out from the crowd of dynamos in Paris, he’s now relishing the role of attacking midfielder, even auxiliary forward, with the Villans. At 29, he’s still got a lot to offer.
“How he’s connecting with other players, keeping ball possession, and getting (into) good positions is really important for us,’’ head coach Unai Emery has said of Asensio. “His skills, more or less, are in my idea structurally and tactically, in how I want to build the team here. One player like him is very important.’’ His loan is without a buy option, but Villa may explore a permanent deal; Asensio’s salary will likely be steep, but not necessarily his price tag, which Villa could afford while competing in the most prestigious tournaments.
Villa Is A Different Beast With Asensio
Highly-rated Asensio’s form typifies Villa’s growing status as an elite club. Of course, it’s always been a force in English soccer and has pedigree abroad after winning Europe’s most prestigious trophy in 1982. Yet this is the first time Villa has reached the event’s quarterfinal stage since a year later in 1983. Its transfer policy and business, drafting in enviable players such as Asensio, Rashford, and Donyell Malen, show the way ahead.
A lot is down to Emery. The Basque boss has spoken about consolidating Villa’s place in European competitions, and despite considerable investment in the squad, he’s dragged the side into the elite bracket. Whereas Villa was initially chasing the best, it’s arguably one of them now: Asensio’s impact may catch the eye of more prospective signings, able to compete at the top with history, ambition, and raucous home support behind them. It’s a ripple effect.
The sternest test of Villa’s credentials arrives in the next round of the Champions League. And, yes, it’s against PSG. Thankfully for the underdog, Asensio’s switch didn’t include a claúsula de miedo, or fear clause as the Spanish press call it, meaning the sharpshooter will be eligible to face his French employer. It would be the ultimate irony for PSG, littered with quality and a candidate to win its first big-eared trophy, to get undone by one of its dropouts.
Although progression to the semifinals will depend on how the whole squad performs, Asensio, the playmaker with a winning mentality (having won 17 titles in Madrid) and not yet 100% primed in Emery’s eyes, is poised to make a telling difference. Asensio might be the ace in the pack during what’s left of the 2024/25 campaign.