Speaking to Spanish radio this week, Dani Ceballos gave his strongest hint yet that he plans to return to Real Madrid next season.

Dani Ceballos held an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero this week, and he seemed pretty adamant on the probability of a return to Real Madrid.

Though the Arsenal loanee admitted he hasn’t spoken to Zinedine Zidane about his future just yet, he gave a clear response to questions about next season.

“When my loan deal expires I will be a Real Madrid player again, my goal is to succeed there one day,” Ceballos said. “My relationship with Zidane is good, but I have not talked with him. He’s focused on his current players.”

This isn’t the first time the midfielder has hinted at planning for the future in Madrid. He previously told TVE that Real are his ‘ideal team’ and highlighted his three-year contract with them. It’s certainly not looking likely he’ll stay with Arsenal next season.

That’s not really a surprise, though. Real Madrid would want tens of millions to sell him. Arsenal can’t really afford that sort of outlay right now.

It’s rather funny to see the contrast between Ceballos’ quotes and those of Pablo Mari. Mari has now made three separate public statements of his desire to stay permanently, one on Reddit, one on Sky Sports and the other on talkSPORT.

Regardless of their respective futures, they both need to focus on helping Arsenal end the season strongly for now.