Spanish journalist Eduardo Inda has claimed that Manchester United have expressed interest in Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio ahead of the summer transfer window.

Reports from Spain over the summer revealed that Man United had tabled an offer to the La Liga champions for Asensio, who broke into the Real first team last season in emphatic fashion.

But Zinedine Zidane and the club’s hierarchy has flatly rejected the prospect of letting Asensio leave the Bernabeu under any circumstances.

And Inda, speaking on El Chiringuito TV, noted that Asensio had attracted interest from a variety of clubs including Man United.

“Asensio has offers from Bayern, City and United but Real declares he is untransferable,” he said.

Whether this is just some recycled clickbait spiel left over from the summer – which, considering Mourinho doesn’t want to sign any attacking players in the summer, seems very likely – is beside the point, because the continued links with Real will take on extra significance next summer.

Following a tumultuous La Liga campaign and a Cope del Rey exit at the hands of Leganes, big changes are expected to occur at the Bernabeu, and with Man United in desperate need of midfield reinforcements they would be foolish to overlook the prospect of making a bid for midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who wanted to leave last summer and has been handed just one league appearance this season.