Real Madrid apparently wanted Dani Ceballos to go to Tottenham so they could ‘seduce’ Christian Eriksen but Arsenal’s willingness to take the player on loan and the player’s desire to come to Arsenal seem to have swung things to N5.

All signs seemed to point to Ceballos heading to White Hart Lane but Real Madrid’s insistence that any deal contain a repurchase clause also seemed to cause problems according to the report in El Confidencial. Spurs backed off and Arsenal stepped in.

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Ceballos since as far back as 2015 when he was dubbed ‘the new Cesc Fabregas’. In fact, there hasn’t been a window since when he hasn’t been linked with a move to London Colney.

Back in 2018, it was claimed the player had regrets over moving to Real Madrid because of his lack of playing time and one of the clubs he reportedly turned down was Arsenal.

Unai Emery also used his personal powers of persuasion to convince the player there was only one club in London. The Spaniard phoned Ceballos and the 22-year-old midfielder looks set to join Arsenal for a season on loan, at least.

Although nothing is official or confirmed, it is claimed there will be no purchase option in his loan deal but we will probably have to wait until after the deal is formalised to learn the truth of that matter.

Ceballos currently earns £2.7m-a-year which works out just over £50kpw, less than half what the club were paying Aaron Ramsey.

Arsenal will cover his wages in full.