Dani Ceballos believes that he can become a Real Madrid player even though he mostly spent two years stinking up Arsenal and Carlo Ancelotti reportedly wants to sell him to buy Manuel Locatelli.
Jump to Real Madrid to sell Dani Ceballos to fund Manuel Locatelli move
Look, I know. Had Arsenal a better team, then maybe Dani Ceballos would have done better, but that’s hardly a great argument in his defence, is it? Do you think Messi would be rubbish if you put him in this Arsenal side? He would probably only score a fraction of the goals he does at Barcelona, but you’d still see his talent.
What did you see in Dani Ceballos?
At Arsenal, Ceballos enjoyed a handful of good games, most notably in the FA Cup run after football returned following lockdown. That earned him another loan in London and it was not a good one.
In total, Ceballos played 40 times last season and returned three whole assists. That’s it. The season before he scored two and assisted two in 37 games. That’s two goals and five assists in 77 games. Joe Willock did more in a few months at Newcastle.
Given all that, it seems like Ceballos is destined to be disappointed in his desire to play for Real Madrid in any sort of serious fashion.
“I believe that this year I have hardened a lot as a player and I think now is the time to settle in a club with a long contract and be able to show my game,” Ceballos said. “Ancelotti has just arrived and we have to talk. No, I have never met him, but there are players who speak well to me of him. I am sure that Madrid will do well.
“The greatest satisfaction was playing at Betis, because I have been Betis since I was little. With Arteta I have been very comfortable at Arsenal and also at the National Team. But more at Betis with Víctor Sánchez del Amo.”
Asked if he would turn down Barcelona, Juventus and PSG who all made offers when Ceballos was still at Betis, the 24-year-old said, “I wouldn’t go to Barcelona because I’m a Madrid player and my dream is to succeed at Real Madrid.”
Asked if he would like to return to Arsenal, he said, “Arteta is a coach who has been with Guardiola for a few years. He is a coach who in a few years will be one of the best, but I would like to return to LaLiga.”
Real Madrid to sell Dani Ceballos
It always looked more likely that Real Madrid would try to sell Ceballos this summer and Defensa Central are now claiming that’s exactly what Carlo Ancelotti plans to do so that he can sign Manuel Locatelli.
Currently playing for Sassuolo, the 23-year-old defensive midfielder is valued at around £30m and Real Madrid think that they can get between £21.5m and £26m for Ceballos, who has two years remaining on his contract in Spain.