The extent of his injury has not yet been confirmed, but the seriousness of Marco Asensio's mishap against Arsenal is forcing Real Madrid to react and possibly change the planning for the season ahead.
If the worst omens come true, the player will have a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee, which will keep him off the pitch for several months.
In that case, Real Madrid would have to start rethinking the future of several players. Starting with Dani Ceballos, who looked like he was about to become a new Gunner under the orders of Unai Emery. The former Betis player could see his departure to Arsenal slowed, as noted 'AS'.
"Our goal was to finish the game without injuries and they've had a pretty serious blow with Asensio. It's bad news for them and for us," Emery said after the match, suggesting that perhaps the agreement for the arrival of Dani Ceballos could be affected.
While Bale seems sentenced and unrecoverable, Zidane gave hints by placing Vinicius in Asensio's place during the match against Arsenal. The Brazilian could be next on the Frenchman's preference list, but there are other options.
To begin with, Isco could regain importance for Zidane. The Malaga native seemed one of the top candidates for a departure, but Asensio's injury changes everything. Isco has given a lot to Real Madrid and he could be about to prove his worth.
James has a more complicated time ahead. The Colombian seems to be between Napoli and Atletico Madrid and has never fit in with Zinedine Zidane, who practically under-utilized him in the time they coincided in Madrid.
Lucas could aos become an option. The Galician was another footballer destined to leave, but his hope of staying may have been renewed with this injury. However, Asensio's unfortunate injury would not necessarily provide him a place in the starting line-up, merely a few more minutes.
Finally, there are Brahim, Rodrygo, Kubo... and even Valverde. Although the intention is to slowly start introducing them into the first team, their situation is the same as Lucas'. In the end, with Asensio injured, there's an open door for someone else to succeed...