In news that is not at all surprising, Dani Ceballos will leave Real Madrid if Zinedine Zidane remains in charge of the La Liga Giants.

Ceballos has extended his loan at Arsenal until the end of the late-running season but knows his future, as much as he wants it to lie at Real Madrid, will lie somewhere else if the Frenchman stays at the helm.

That doesn’t mean he will stay in London, however. Ceballos seems set on a return to Spain, even if that means signing for another Spanish club.

On Saturday, Marca reported, “When he returns from north London in August, the midfielder knows that his future at Los Blancos relies on who is in charge. If Zinedine Zidane is still in the job next season, Ceballos will have to leave – the club and the player himself know that.

“Ceballos wants to play and be important in the team, and that’s not going to happen if Zidane remains the coach.”

Not long after the 23-year-old joined Arsenal, Zidane was insistent that he had sent Ceballos on loan to get game time and not because there is an issue between the two.

“No, it’s not that I did not get along with Dani Ceballos that he left the team,” Zidane said.

“I think he needed a lot more play[ing time] because he’s an important player.

“It’s true that at Real, he did not have enough minutes, that’s all. There are a lot of players here, a lot of competition.

“I wish him to play many games and do well with his new team, Arsenal.”

That, however, does not seem to be true.

At the start of June, it was reported that if Arsenal wanted to to sign Dani Ceballos on loan for next season it will cost them €10.5m.

Real Madrid have also reportedly set a price for his permanent transfer.