Arsenal, Liverpool and Inter Milan have all held talks with Real Madrid over Dani Ceballos being moved on in January, according to reports in Spain.

Dani Ceballos joined Los Blancos in the summer, for a rumoured €18m. At the time, he seemed to be one of the most in-demand midfield prospects in Europe.

However, Diario Gol via Daily Star report the Spanish champions have already told the 21-year-old he can move on. Although, they only want a loan deal right now, with a permanent move following later.

Manager Zinedine Zidane apparently never wanted to sign the midfielder, with Florentino Perez behind the transfer. As a result, the Spaniard has really struggled to find games with his new club.

Lack of playing time

In total, the Real Betis youth product has played 457 minutes of football this season. That’s just over five games’ worth by late December. Dani Ceballos is still young, but only making four starts in that time is very disappointing.

This is after he scored a brace in the first of those starts against Deportivo Alavés. But Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric and Isco are all ahead of him in the pecking order, so the situation is unlikely to change.

The media linked Arsenal to the young player’s signature in the early part of last summer, so it’s not surprising to see the Gunners in the mix again now. Arsene Wenger is notoriously good at blooding through young player, as fellow Spaniards Hector Bellerín and Cesc Fabregas prove.

Where would Dani Ceballos fit?

Arsenal have a busy midfield of their own at the moment. Jack Wilshere struggled to find spots ahead of the rarely-dropped Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka, until an injury to the Welshman gave the 25-year-old an opportunity.

Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin are also waiting on the sidelines for whatever openings become available to them. Unless one of the five plans to leave in January, I can’t see Arsène Wenger being able to make guarantees.