- Will Dani Ceballos complete the 2019/20 season at Arsenal? Probably. If there is a season to complete.
- Does Dani Ceballos want to stay at Arsenal when his loan deal knows? Don’t know.
- Does Dani Ceballos want to return to Real Madrid? Hard to say.
- Does Dani Ceballos eat paella? Most likely.
- Is Dani Ceballos eager to play for another Spanish club? Maybe.
- Is Estrella Dani Ceballos’ alcoholic beverage of choice? His song does suggest as much.
As you can see, there’s a lot of uncertainty in Dani Ceballos’ life right now and that comes across in a recent interview.
Speaking to Spanish TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones, he said: “I finish my contract on June 30 but I would have to [continue to] play for Arsenal [when football returns]. It would be irresponsible from my side to talk about my future. The most important thing will be to be important for my new team.
“I came to Arsenal to be an important player but in the last month that all disappeared [due to the season being put on hold].”
Asked if he was aware of opportunities to return to Spain at the beginning of the year, he reflected:
“Yes, my agent told me about the interest of other teams but I did not play because I was coming back from injury.
“I started training and changed my situation. In the last month-and-a-half I felt important. I knew about Valencia’s interest.”
We do like Dani. Having knuckled down under Mikel Arteta he deserved the regular game time he was getting before coronavirus banjaxed the season. Driven by a desire to get the nod for Spain’s Euro 2020 squad, he was playing with real dynamism. Hopefully, he’ll pick up where he left off, if football resumes again.
For all that, our gut tells us he’s not going to be sticking around when the transfer window reopens. We’re happy to be proved wrong on this but we get the feeling Mikel Arteta may look elsewhere to strengthen his midfield.
If you believe Sport [relayed by Sport Witness], we’ve already lined up 23-year-old Espanyol midfielder Marc Roca as his replacement.
Apparently, we’ve already made an offer and we’ll look to push on with negotiations once the coronavirus crisis ended. His buyout clause is €40 million but with Espanyol bottom of La Liga he could be available for less if they are relegated.
I think if we were going to complete a +£40m transfer, Ceballos would have had to set the Emirates on fire. Although he’s had some decent performances, I’d be looking at spending that money elsewhere.
Out of curiosity who would you be looking to bring in for +£40m at CM?
Depends on the gaffer, and his stylistic preference.
Torres of Valencia is highly rated.
Personally, I’d go for Zakaria. He’s a big, bad wolf.
Who’d you rather have, the next Xavi or the next Vieira?
Who Zakaria?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9BrShCDoFyg
The best box to box CM in Europe.
Criminally underrated.
Can fill in at CB as well.
Have you seen Bendtner’s YouTube highlight?
We lack both creativity and physicality in midfield, so ideally we could do with both really
Zakaria looks an absolute machine, really impressed. I’d be pretty excited if Arsenal were looking into the possibility of signing him.
I would be looking at Doucoure who I don’t think would cost us as much as Ceballos and has premier league experience and is more of a physical presence. We are distinctly lacking that in midfield.
I don’t extensively follow European leagues but I would imagine there are players in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga that will have a smaller price tag and a bigger impact.
Would be interesting to know why you’d think Doucoure would be cheaper than Ceballos. The situation as I read it is that Zidane doesn’t really rate Dani and wants funds to go after someone like Pogba. If we play our cards right I think we could drive a hard bargain. Doucoure would be a great addition mind.
You might be right. I still think Madrid will be looking at getting somewhere in the £50m region. That’s what they wanted last summer and he’s done nothing to negate that fee.
Doucoure would cost around £40m (?) in this market I suppose. I mean, he’s great but he plays for relegation candidates who would probably need to sell players if they did go down.
Of course none of this really matters because for the next two years we are just making the managers play Subbuteo against one another in air tight confinement containers.
In Arteta’s cultured flick we trust.
My reply has unfortunately been quarantined for the last 12 hours. It decided to self isolate when it picked up a dry cough. It’s awaiting one of the Andrew’s to give it the all clear.
I still don’t know why comment approval is preemptive. It ruins the flow of discussions and implies that we cannot be trusted to have mature and pleasant conversations with one another. Ah well, we should get used to having our freedoms removed from us I suppose.
I think there’s a very good reason for the comments to be moderated. We just don’t see it because all the terrible stuff is taken off. Don’t see it as an attack on your freedom either. Not sure where you live, but I assume you’re free to start your own blog, posting whatever you’d like and moderating the posts however you like. That freedom hasn’t been taken away. I for one am grateful, because that moderation is what separates the comments here from the comment sections on YouTube videos, the trolls on Twitter and that Spurs supporting, anti-vaccer uncle who… Read more »
40 000 001
I understand the scepticism but I think beyond injuries and Corona virus disruptions there’s a really good player there. I like him and would be happy if he stayed.
I agree perhaps for 20mil. Today’s market he’s probably going to cost 80 though
I reckon 80 mil for an above average player like Ceballos will be yesterdays market prices on the other side of the Corona epidemic.
Yeah I’m pretty worried for the club about that. We managed to lose money during a football boom. What happens now…
I know that one player can’t win games on his own, but you can’t help but think, if this Roca guy is so good, should Espanyol be languishing at the foot of La Liga ?
Very good player and lots of potential, was looking very good before the suspension. The main question would be the asking price.
It’s going to be an interesting summer as clubs are going to take a pretty sizable financial hit even if the year finishes as the economy is so bad. Have to think fees / wages could reset lower. So 25m is 40m last year etc.
On the side note of the economic side of things, think its revolting people are essentially being laid off and clubs taking the government allowances whilst players continue to pick up their cheques. If Arsenal do the same I’ll be returning my season ticket- that really would be the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. Truly sickening- one of the worst things I’ve heard, which is saying something given how morally perverse football seems to be these days.
Agreed – Sp*rs being the latest cheapskates to do so. A friend of mine however works in the boxes at The Emirates and has been paid an average of last few months earnings, so hoping Arsenal are staying classy across the board
Arsenal are no more or less classy than any other club
Eh sorry I’m being a dick, ignore
That’s a good point though Julien Laurens at ESPN said that the clubs will collectively discuss wage cuts for all premier league players on Friday. I think they want to do it consistently across the board. But no surprise that Daniel Levy and Mike Ashley would jump the gun on laying off staff!
Levy and Ashley just ooze “bad landlord”
Ashley is an absolute cunt
I don’t see anyway the players keep receiving their current wages as this goes on – virtually every top club in the world is cutting wages as income at the clubs has collapsed. It’s just “easier” if the clubs can get the PL to dictate the size of the cuts rather than having to be the bad guy and announce it alone. I doubt it would ever happen but it’s just awful given the amount of wealth the owners and players have that they won’t chip in and pay the wages of the normal people at the club.
Ceballos tends to look quite good in a small sample size of matches, mainly because of the paucity of options in the Arsenal midfield. He certainly doesn’t look good for £40m and I wish we still had Sven unearthing more young talent at a reasonable price.
It just doesn’t look like we have a midfielder with all the attributes needed, although most do something well.
This is a bit off topic but I wanted to get someone else’s opinion on Olivier Giroud. The team Facebook page uploaded a pic of him and there were a lot of comments begrudging the way he celebrated winning the Europa against us for Chelsea. Do you feel the same way people? Has that in any way affected your impression of the guy?
I always have, and always will love the handsome French bastard. ‘Not world class’ my arse!
Yeah. 100+ goals for arsenal, 3 FA cups. Surely the guy deserves the utmost respect.
Well said! To be honest: I think his mentality is just amazing. He was 25 when he played in the national team for the first time (26 when we signed him). Since then… 1 World Cup 1 French League Title 4 FA Cups 3 Community Shield 1 Europa League 1 Puskas award 3rd most goals in the French Eleven (2 goals away from Patini!) 105 goals for us. I remember how I felt when we signed him and let RvP leave – desperation, frustration, wrath…but it looks like life tought me a lesson, because even if his shortcomings are obvious,… Read more »
Bit precious to get upset about someone celebrating winning a trophy but maybe that’s just me. Liked him as a player, think he’s a worldclass target man who makes the game easier for his teammates and coupled with a genuine goalscorer (which he isn’t worldclass at) we’d have had an elite strike force.
No. It hasn’t in any way affected my impression of the HFB.
I think he might stay. Arteta probably wants more than one player with his capabilities.
Talking about current market prices. What do people think about those radically changing as a result of the COVID pandemic. There wont be any money around after this is all over.
Great point Bob. I think we may need to brace ourselves for a challenging closed season. First, it’ll be difficult to move on players. Second, our own income and that of our sponsors will be hit meaning that we won’t have much to spend. Third, the lack of knowledge and confidence of when everything will be up and running again will force us to be cagey. Saying that, we may have a glut of players being released as a lot of clubs will hit the wall so cheap to free deals may be around, but we still need to afford… Read more »
We should be looking to keep him and offload Xhaka
Anyone Arsenal player who thinks they are too good to play for us can fk off.!! Let the hungry players play, not these wankers who care more about their hairstyle than match performance.
I can’t have him. Too lightweight…
He has done nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant a forty million pound transfer. for that money I’ll book his flights back to Madrid myself.
Signing Ceballos on a perm deal is not the answer, unless it was like £8mill (which it obv won’t be). Maybe it’s just me as everyone here seems to really rate him but he is not the player we need right now. Prem is a different beast and I think he has been pretty average bar 2 maybe 3 games.