Asensio is already a superstar ―Gibson

The 21-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season last term and appears to have stepped his form up yet another notch this season after his double salvo against Valencia on Sunday took him to four goals in just five games in all competitions.

Gibson, now a pundit for ‘Sky Sports’ certainly believes that the player is here to stay and says that he is already a superstar despite his relative inexperience at the top level.

Speaking to the ‘La Liga Weekly Podcast’, the 54-year-old said: “He has everything. Balance, skill, touch, technique, the ability to dribble and take players on. He can look after himself and by that I mean withstanding physical pressure from players who will try and be aggressive with him.”

“He’s not bothered in the slightest about taking people on and taking a whack or two. With his finishing, it seems like he never misses. I’m actually excited about watching him now on a regular basis.

“I think he is going to be one of the top players in the world and in my opinion, he’s already a superstar.”

Speaking about his pathway to the first team, Gibson said that his progress had been incredible and said that both Real and the club’s boss Zinedine Zidane deserve credit for that.

“For a young player to transition like this – coming from Mallorca and staying there an extra season after Real Madrid have bought him, then going to Espanyol and performing rather well – if we’re being honest, nobody thought he was going to be this good so quickly,” he explained.

“When he came back, I was wondering if they could have left him at Espanyol for another season to play regularly rather than coming back to Real Madrid and perhaps not getting as much playing time. I was totally wrong.

“Zinedine Zidane has been willing to give the young players opportunities and he’s made the breakthrough from that shadow squad we saw at Real last season.

“Some have moved on, like Pepe, James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata, but he is the one who has made the breakthrough from being in that shadow team and whether Cristiano Ronaldo was available or not, after that performance from Asensio [against Valencia], he absolutely has to start in the next match.

“Whether that’s going to change when Ronaldo is back – he has two games left on his ban – and give Zidane the chance to rest players when the Champions League starts.”

Can Asensio continue his incredible rise? We look forward to finding out.