Marco Asensio’s new contract with Real Madrid will have a buyout clause of £309m.

• Arsenal were interested in signing the Spaniard
• Asensio is set to sign a new contract with Real Madrid
• Nobody is paying £309m for a player

Arsenal were reportedly interested in bringing Asensio to the Emirates, but the Spaniard looks set to sign a new contract with Real Madrid.

Asensio is one of the most exciting talents in world football and he enjoyed a breakthrough season with Madrid. He bagged goals in the Champions League semi-final and final.

Arsenal’s hopes of signing him were already very slim, and the reveal of a £309m release clause would have done nothing to boost those hopes, reports The Sun.

Madrid aren’t realistically expecting clubs to meet his clause, but it’s protection from big-spenders and is a message to Asensio from Los Blancos that he’s very valuable moving forward.

The La Liga and Champions League winners have no plans to sell the midfield this summer, nor is it now likely Arsenal have enough money to push through a deal.

Real manager Zinedine Zidane has blooded through a number of promising players in 2016/17, favouring existing stars previously on the fringes rather than making lucrative investment, and Asensio is likely to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu as a result.