Dani Ceballos who has being on a season long loan deal at the Emirates from Real Madrid has really been impressive in recent weeks, forming a strong partnership alongside Granit Xhaka in midfield.
Ceballos have had a lot of ups and down since joining Arsenal during last summer transfer. He was given his first start for Arsenal against Burnley in a 2–1 home victory and he provided two assists in a man-of-the-match performance.
His early impression after the Burnley game couldn’t be matched afterwards, which could be attributed to many causes, to name but few such as injuries, adaptation and lack of proper coaching have all contributed to his inconsistency.
In his short spell, he has had to work under three different managers with different philosophies and style of play. He was hardly played in his favourable position under Unai Emery nor was he able to get a grip of the coach’s tactics.
His loan deal was looking fruitless as Arsenal’s unfortunate loan deals seems to continue, due to there past experiences concerning fruitless loan signings such as Denis Suarez, who was signed from Barcelona but only made 4 league appearances before returning to his parent club and Kim Kallstrom who as well didn’t make much impression as he was limited to just 3 league appearances and a 15 minutes cameo in an FA Cup semi-final match against defending champions Wigan Athletic, where he was introduced as an extra-time substitute. He scored Arsenal’s second spot kick in their penalty shoot-out 4-2 win, which saw them advance to the final.
Dani Ceballos situation was almost looking more like his predecessors and was already muted to be considering an early return to his parent club in January but his encounter with new Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta changed the Spaniard’s plan.
After recovering fully from a niggling injury, he was once against drafted into the first team and made an instant impression against West Ham, alongside Granit Xhaka. So far, he has being one of Mikel Arteta’s standout performer mostly being deployed playing from deep position.
He has undoubtedly began to flourish in his new role, to the detriment of Matteo Guendouzi. He has started seven of Arsenal’s last eight league games.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that he would be open to keeping Dani Ceballos at Arsenal but confess that the possibility doesn’t lie in the hands of Arsenal.
The Spanish international midfielder is due to return to his parent club Real Madrid at the end of the season. But Arteta is now hoping another deal with Madrid can be done either with another loan deal or permanent signing.
“We are talking to the club,” said Arsenal’s head coach. “Obviously we don’t own the player, he’s not in our hands, so the clubs will need to have a communication and see what we can do.”
“I’m really happy with him,” Arteta said ahead of Tuesday night’s home game against Leicester. “The way he’s evolving and I love how much he likes to play football – the passion he puts into every training session, and in every game, you just have to see his celebrations.
“Whether he’s on the pitch or on the bench, the way he celebrates [shows] how much he puts into it. Again, I’m really happy with him, I think he’s evolving in the right way and he’s becoming a really important player for us.”
With the pandemic crisis’ effect, Real Madrid might be willing to lower their valuation of Dani Ceballos, giving room for Arsenal to make an affordable deal for the Spaniard.
