Real Madrid academy product will be the team’s ‘head’ of defence in upcoming matches | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti faces a tricky situation just days after the closure of the January transfer market and stares at a serious lack of resources in central defence.

Despite starting the season with reasonable depth in the department, he has lost Eder Militao to a second ACL injury and now is without the services of Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba after both players suffered blows in the past week.

Heading into a critical month where his team locks horns with Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, the Italian gaffer has just two natural centre-backs at his disposal – Jesus Vallejo and Raul Asencio.

A rare case

As relayed in a recent update by MARCA, it is rare for any academy graduate to accumulate the kind of minutes Asencio has this season and the player is only looking to climb higher in prominence.

Making giant strides. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

So far this season, Asencio has already crossed 1000 minutes for Los Blancos and has seen more action than even the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler, and Endrick.

Since making his debut for the first team in November, Asencio has featured in 19 of the team’s 20 games and has served as a starter on nine occasions. In fact, all signs point to him overtaking Militao in terms of minutes in the coming months.

With Rudiger and Alaba now set to be sidelined for two to three weeks, Asencio will not only serve as a regular starter in the department but the bonafide leader at the back and it is amazing to see how he has grown just months after his debut.

The Spanish outlet reiterates that Asencio will thus be Real Madrid’s ‘head’ of defence in the coming months and it is crucial that he keeps up his high quality given what is on the line.

He will likely be partnered by Aurelien Tchouameni at the back starting tonight against Leganes, and the duo’s performance will account for so much of Real Madrid’s season.