Real Madrid will have to do without Raúl Asencio for several months. The defender is set to undergo surgery to finally get his long-standing problems under control.
Raúl Asencio has not played a single minute this season, and that is not set to change in the coming months. The defender is due to undergo surgery on Thursday to finally resolve the long-standing issues with his shin. Spanish media are reporting a recovery time of between two and four months.
Asencio had to cut short training on Tuesday due to renewed discomfort, followed a day later by the sobering announcement from Real Madrid. “Our player Raúl Asencio will undergo surgery tomorrow due to a stress fracture in the tibia of his right leg,” Real Madrid stated.
Surgery had already been considered towards the end of last year. However, Asencio gritted his teeth and continued to play due to the tight squad situation in defence. Centre-backs Eder Militao, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba were all sidelined for long periods.
At the time, Asencio underwent a minor procedure, which enabled him to continue playing. However, this was only possible whilst in pain and with his movement severely restricted; after the season, he was prescribed a period of rest.
In Madrid, there was hope that the symptoms would disappear with the rest period, but that was not the case. The problem may have been exacerbated by a thigh injury that the 23-year-old sustained in the same leg at the end of July, which forced him to adjust his training workload and exercises during pre-season.
Rüdiger is likely to stand in for Huijsen
However, Asencio is not the first choice for the Royals anyway. Manager José Mourinho has so far relied predominantly on Dean Huijsen and Liverpool’s new signing Ibrahima Konaté in central defence, although Huijsen was shown a red card in the recent 1–2 defeat at Atlético Madrid.
His replacement in the first match after the international break against Villarreal CF (18 October, 9.00 pm) is likely to be Antonio Rüdiger, who also came on as a substitute for Huijsen following his sending-off in the Derbi madrileno and went on to pull the score back to 1–2.
