UDINE, ITALY - JUNE 30: Dani Ceballos of Spain celebrates the victory with the trophy at the end the 2019 UEFA U-21 Final between Spain and Germanyat Stadio Friuli on June 30, 2019 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)UDINE, ITALY - JUNE 30: Dani Ceballos of Spain celebrates the victory with the trophy at the end the 2019 UEFA U-21 Final between Spain and Germanyat Stadio Friuli on June 30, 2019 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) — UDINE, ITALY - JUNE 30: Dani Ceballos of Spain celebrates the victory with the trophy at the end the 2019 UEFA U-21 Final between Spain and Germanyat Stadio Friuli on June 30, 2019 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Arsenal Gossip

Arsenal and Real Madrid spend Tuesday in intense negotiations

Jul 17, 2019

Arsenal and Real Madrid were locked in ‘intense negotiations’ on Tuesday according to AS who continue to report that Dani Ceballos is ‘one step’ away from joining Arsenal on loan.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin (Rear L) hands the winners' trophy to Spain's midfielder Dani Ceballos (R) and Spain's defender Jesus Vallejo after Spain won the final match of the UEFA U21 European Football Championships against Germany on June 30, 2019 at the Friuli stadium in Udine. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) — UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin (Rear L) hands the winners’ trophy to Spain’s midfielder Dani Ceballos (R) and Spain’s defender Jesus Vallejo after Spain won the final match of the UEFA U21 European Football Championships against Germany on June 30, 2019 at the Friuli stadium in Udine. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

The player had been said to be on the move to Tottenham but Unai Emery has reportedly convinced him that he will get more playing time with Arsenal, highlighting that he would be coming to the club as a first-choice midfielder.

190717 as dani ceballos — AS 187 July 2019

Ceballos is currently on holiday after appearing in the u21 Euros and it is claimed that he would prefer to go straight to London when he returns on 22 July rather than travel to the States with Arsenal set to face Real Madrid on 23 July (24 July in the UK).

UDINE, ITALY - JUNE 30: Dani Ceballos of Spain competes for the ball with Mahmoud Dahoud of Germany during the 2019 UEFA U-21 Final between Spain and Germanyat Stadio Friuli on June 30, 2019 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) — UDINE, ITALY – JUNE 30: Dani Ceballos of Spain competes for the ball with Mahmoud Dahoud of Germany during the 2019 UEFA U-21 Final between Spain and Germanyat Stadio Friuli on June 30, 2019 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

“I want to play at least 40 games and be important,” Ceballos said after the Euros this summer. He certainly isn’t getting that in Spain at present with only 22 games and 899 minutes in his first season and 31 games in his second. After Zidane arrived he played just 177 minutes.

The deal for the 22 year-old is said to be a loan but will reportedly contain no option to buy.

After AS broke the story, Marca and Mundo Deportivo followed up.

190717 md dani ceballos — Mundo Deportivo 17 July 2019

In their Wednesday edition, Mundo Derpotivo reported that Arsenal are prepared to accept all of Real Madrid’s conditions, one of which is that there will be no option at the end of the loan.

All the deal is waiting for is for Real Madrid to say ‘yes’ with the player already keen to join.

They also add that Tottenham are ‘struggling’ with the deal despite the express wishes of Pochettino that they should sign him and that Unai Emery insisted on signing Ceballos from ‘the first moment’.