Cristiano Ronaldo’s praise has delighted Marco Asensio, but the Real Madrid attacking midfielder does not have his team-mate’s Ballon d’Or crown in his sights any time soon.

Asensio agreed terms on a new six-year contract on Thursday that increases his release clause to around €700million and formally signed the deal at a ceremony yesterday.

It continues the 21-year-old’s remarkable rise to prominence, having scored a host of spectacular goals since breaking into Madrid’s first team last season.
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Portugal star Ronaldo is the favourite to win another Ballon d’Or crown this year and recently named Asensio as one of his potential successors, but the individual award remains a future goal for the man of the moment, as opposed to an immediate priority.

“Receiving praise from Cristiano Ronaldo is a joy,” said Asesnsio.“But I don’t think about winning the Ballon d’Or because I’m young and everything will happen when it happens.

“I can improve a lot, I have room to improve. I am young, I have to grow every year in many things.”On his new long-term contract, Asensio added: “It is a very important day for me. Renewing my contract with the biggest club in the world is a source of real pride.

“The goal in the Champions League final [was my favourite so far], it’s a dream goal to play a final, to win and to score. It was amazing, very exciting.

“Last season was a great year where I grew a lot and my goals remain the same, winning many titles with Real Madrid. “Zinedine Zidane knows how to deal with me. I have my personal goals and my goal is always to play, but I understand that he has to allocate minutes to others because we are a team, and as a team we won all the titles last year.”

Asensio signed for Madrid in November 2014, but stayed on loan with Mallorca, the club who sold him, for a further year-and-a-half. He then spent the following campaign with Espanyol, before making his mark at the Santiago Bernabeu last season.