Real Madrid star set to join Barcelona in the summer as replacement for Raphinha - Reports

According to Football Transfer, Marco Asensio has agreed to join Barcelona on a free transfer from Real Madrid in the summer. The Spaniard is currently in the final months of his contract with Los Blancos.

Asensio joined the Madrid giants back in 2015. He has since made 266 appearances for Los Blancos, scoring 55 goals and providing 29 assists. The winger has made 31 appearances for the Spanish club this season, scoring six goals and providing five assists.

He was on the scoresheet in Los Blancos' latest La Liga win against Espanyol earlier in the day as Carlo Ancelotti's team won by a scoreline of 3-1.

🚨🚨✅| BREAKING: Marco Asensio will join FC Barcelona this summer! @Transfersdotcom https://t.co/uYD45YF8Fe

Asensio didn't sign an extension with Real Madrid. While the player was also linked with Arsenal and Tottenham, the aforementioned report claims he will join Barcelona.

The Blaugrana will bring the Spaniard in as a replacement for Raphinha. The Brazilian joined the Catalan club from Leeds United in the summer and has since scored six goals and has provided nine assists in 36 matches.

Real Madrid called an urgent board meeting as Barcelona were accused of paying former refereeing committee chief

The Blaugrana have recently been accused of paying former vice-president of the refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. They allegedly paid €7.2 million to Negreira between 2001 and 2018.

The Catalan club wanted the acquisition of neutral referees in their matches in return. Los Blancos have now issued a statement on the matter that read (via GOAL):

"Given the seriousness of the accusations made by the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office against FC Barcelona and two of its presidents for well-founded suspicions of corruption and their relations with whoever was the vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees, José María Enríquez Negreira, the president has convened urgently to the Board of Directors tomorrow, Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 12:00 p.m., in order to decide on the actions that Real Madrid deems appropriate in relation to this matter."

Comunicado Oficial.
#RealMadrid

The seriousness of the accusations is pretty serious. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds in the coming days.