Back in February, Dani Ceballos said he chose to join Arsenal over Liverpool because Unai Emery convinced him he fit the club’s philosophy.

This time Ceballos turned down multiple offers from Spain and Italy to return to Arsenal now Emery has gone and we’re finally trying to play the kind of football he was promised.

Dani Ceballos joined Arsenal on a season-long loan last summer but he also had the option of joining a couple of other Premier League clubs. We all know he turned down Tottenham Hotspur, but he also had the chance to join Liverpool.

Speaking to the Spanish media in February, Ceballos explained why he didn’t pick the best side in the country and, instead, opted for Arsenal and their Emery-infused decline.

“That a club like Liverpool loves you makes you proud,” Ceballos admitted. “But my decision was to go to Arsenal because Emery took my hand and told me to join him.

“Klopp is a great coach but you have to see the philosophy of each team. Right now, players of my philosophy in a team like Liverpool would not fit in the best possible way. But being linked to the greats shows you are doing something right.”

Dani Ceballos did not shine at Arsenal for most of the season, especially under the man who took his hand. Then again, that wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary at the club. Few did.

Under Mikel Arteta, however, we saw far more of what Dani Ceballos has to offer.

If Unai Emery was as good at coaching as he seems to be with his words in private, having talked himself into the Arsenal job and Dani Ceballos away from Liverpool to a dire Arsenal, he’d be the greatest coach ever to walk this planet.

But he isn’t. He’s awful.

He should also apologise to Ceballos for his lies.

Now, Ceballos seems set to return to Arsenal once again, this time turning down offers from Spain and Italy to play for Mikel Arteta.

Arteta is believed to have called Ceballos personally to convince him to come back with Arsenal submitting three offers to Real Madrid in order to secure his services for another season.

How much will it cost to extend Dani Ceballos’ loan?

If Arsenal sign Dani Ceballos on loan for this season it will cost them another €10.5m.

Arsenal will likely pay a total of €10.5m for another season of Dani Ceballos (€6.5m wages, €4m fee) which is the price Valencia were reportedly been quoted.

In Ceballos’s last loan agreement with Arsenal there was no option to buy, let alone an obligation. If Arsenal want to buy him on a permanent basis they will have to convince Real Madrid to sell a player they believe could generate their biggest profit margin ever by stumping up a ‘stratospheric offer’.

They’ll also have to convince the player to stay in London. Ceballos still believes he has a future at Real Madrid. Not, however, as long as Zinedine Zidane remains their manager.

“There was never trust between the two,” wrote Marca last summer, who also explained it was Zidane who pushed Ceballos out on loan and only Zidane.

Real Madrid signed Dani Ceballos from Real Betis in the summer of 2017 for just £14.84m, a price not far off actual peanuts in football’s pre-Covid market.