Marco Asensio Reveals He Wants New Shirt Number to Reflect His Current Status at Real Madrid

Marco Asensio had admitted that he would like to be given a shirt number which better reflects his importance to Real Madrid.

Asensio was a regular starter for Los Blancos last year and appears to be one of the first names on the team sheet under new manager Julen Lopetegui, whose faith has been rewarded with three assists from Asensio in the first three matches of the La Liga season.

A Spanish journalist reported last week that Asensio had rejected the chance to take the number seven jersey vacated by Cristiano Ronaldo, which was allocated to new signing Mariano instead.

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However, those claims are now in question as Asensio has revealed that he would jump at the chance to take a more prestigious number.

"I don't want to end my career still wearing the number 20 shirt - I think that explains everything about how I feel," Asensio told Panenka magazine, quoted by Marca. 

"Would I like to change it? Of course, we'll see what happens."

It is now three years since Asensio joined Real Madrid from Mallorca, and the 22-year-old also spoke about a different sort of pressure to that which he experienced with Los Bermellones.

"The pressure at Real Madrid is nothing like what I experienced at Mallorca, where sometimes you hear people in the stands shouting: ‘Run, you're playing with my children's money,'" he said.

Asensio scored one goal and provided three assists as Spain thrashed Croatia 6-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday.