Out of the plans and without an offer: Real Madrid star a "headache" for Mourinho

The player's salary is the biggest obstacle

Real Madrid have a problem to solve before the season kicks off. A defender has fallen out of Jose Mourinho's plans, yet neither the club nor his agent Jorge Mendes has found an offer good enough to send him on his way.

Mourinho has wrapped up six deals this summer, but the Portuguese still wants another defender. He is after five reliable options at centre-back, and Raul Asencio does not feature in his thinking for the new campaign.

Asencio's salary hinders his departure

Two seasons ago, Asencio broke into the first team and forced Real Madrid to hand him a swift new contract to keep him at the club. The wages he earned from that renewal have now become the very obstacle blocking his exit.

According to the newspaper "Sport", Asencio pockets around 6 million euros a year before tax. That places him in a high bracket within the squad, more than the likes of Arda Guler and Endrick, and close to Brahim Diaz and Alvaro Carreras.

Last season told a different story. Asencio slipped down the pecking order after losing his place to Dean Huijsen, ending up the very last option in defence, even behind Austrian David Alaba.

Having shifted Alaba's wages off the books this summer, the club hopes to pull off the same trick with Asencio. So far, though, the task looks a good deal trickier.

Mourinho told him to leave

"AS" report that Mourinho told Asencio to his face that he had no part to play next season and asked him to find a new club.

The snag is the lack of suitable offers. Mendes is hunting for a team willing to pay the transfer fee or shoulder those high wages, but nothing has come close to an agreement yet.

The defence does not give Mourinho reassurance

Why is Mourinho so set on a new defender? Look no further than the trouble Real Madrid endured in that department last season.

Of the five defenders in the squad last term, three suffered recurring injuries and the other two fell short of what was expected. That left the club making only one change at the back this summer: Ibrahima Konate in, Alaba out.

Konate arrives after a campaign widely rated as one of the worst of his career, yet he is in line to start the opening official matches alongside Huijsen.

Mourinho wants Huijsen back to his best. Question marks still hang over the physical condition of Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao, both hampered by recurring injuries in recent seasons.

Militao, mind you, will keep his starting spot without argument once he reaches full fitness.

Asencio's departure is the key to the new deal

To ease those worries, Mourinho wants a fifth defender, or perhaps a fresh face in midfield. Real Madrid keep running into the same wall: the list of registered players.

Nobody new can come in until the club clears space by moving some players on.

Real Madrid would gladly offload Asencio and a midfielder to open the door for two new signings. For now, the whole thing is stuck.

Mendes keeps searching for a way out for Asencio. Until it is done, Real Madrid's pursuit of a new defender stays on ice, and Mourinho faces a genuine headache in shaping his squad before the season starts.