In an article detailing the potential departures from Real Madrid this summer, Marca say that Arsenal are ready to make a bid to turn Dani Ceballos’ loan deal into a permanent one.
Having dispelled a ‘period of doubt’ that Mikel Arteta had about the midfielder, he’s looking to retain his services, but faces competition from Valencia and Real Betis as the Spanish giants seek a fee believed to be in the region of €25m.
What happens with Zinedine Zidane will apparently play a major part: if he stays as head coach, which seems likely, Ceballos will seek to leave as the two have no working relationship to speak of.
The 23 year old began his career at Real Betis, before moving to Madrid in 2017 for a fee of €18m. Whether the Seville-based club can afford the transfer fee to bring him back remains to be seen, while Valencia too may struggle given the recent imposition of rules in Spain which prohibit betting companies involvement as club sponsors (their current shirt sponsor is bwin).
Of course Arsenal too may have issues with funds, facing the prospect of a season without European football for the first time in 25 years. However, it hasn’t prevented Mikel Arteta urging the ownership to take a ‘risk’ in the market to try and bridge the gap to the Champions League places.
“You are not in the Champions League and because you are not in the Champions League, you say, ‘Okay, I don’t invest because I don’t have the financial ability to do it’,” said Arteta ahead of tonight’s Premier League clash with Liverpool.
“But the other clubs invest and then the gap becomes bigger. If I do want to invest and [take the] risk and then I don’t reach it, what happens?
“That’s the mistake.”
Ceballos has impressed of late after an indifferent spell in his loan move. He did suffer a bad injury though, and convinced the manager he was worthy of a place in the side after ‘training like an animal‘.
He has made 32 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring twice and providing two assists.
Even disregarding his recent performances, 25m seems like good value. And Arteta’s liking for him counts in a big way.
25m is much better than what Real were looking for at the beginning of his loan, but it still concerns me given the scale of the rebuild we need.
Perhaps keeping Ceballos will prevent us from slipping backwards, but nor will his signing push us forward from the level we’ve shown this year. Paying 25m to tread water feels expensive to me, but it all depends who is available on the market I suppose.
Game in game this guy gets better. I’ve a feeling when he’s told he’s comfortably the main man here he’ll come into his own.
I always wonder who the people are who downvote every single comment
We need a big cleansing! Get rid of the bad grass: the Mustafis, kolasinac, ozil etc. Ceballos would be actually a great addition. Rebuild the fucking squad!
Amen
Niles money to make him permanent.
Guendouzi
The key word is invest correctly. Buy the right players that fit into the Arsenal Style. Hire managers who can play the Arsenal Style so that our purchases and academy can focus on the football stylistic culture. Like farca’s tiki taka, liverfool’s gegenpress, our own va va voom style etc.
That’s edu’s job. But can raul do that given his agent style approach? This style is more mislintat.
Well, unless raul gets us coutinho on loan mext season then my tune towards him will change.
To clarify, i mean our past invincibles va va voom style, not unai-deploy-torreira-as-DM-in-AM-position-as-false10/quite true 4 but in reality half truth.
Do you mean you want Coutinho or not?
I’m shocked by the number of people who’re keen on that deal, all the makings of another Ozil situation to me.
exactly. Coutinho coming means we have not learnt a thing from ozil saga.
and he’s a Joorabchian player. What could possibly go wrong?
That’s because some people’s memory only spans back the last 5 games or so. Some people seem to have forgotten the 15 or so games he was terrible.
He definitely has turned a corner and is looking good right now. But like I said before, if the first 5 games for us were brilliant and the next 15 were poor, would these people still be calling on signing him up?
He is cheaper than I thought, to be fair.
I’ve been in favour of signing Ceballos the entire time in fairness, never quite understood the dislike- or ambivalence- towards him. We’re crying out for a ball carrying, creative player, and he most definitely is one. People keep beating him with the lack of assists stick, but I think he’s played passes throughout the entire season that demonstrate his ability and creative potential- the one through to Saka to assist Auba a great example of this. I’d go as far to say he’s actually far better at playing those ‘through the line’ passes than Xhaka, and that’s the only real… Read more »
The games he was poor in where mostly under Emery. Even before the restart he was good for Arteta when he got back into the team, so it’s less that he’s turned a corner and more that he’s gone back to his proper level.
Lol it means that i do want coutinho. only if he can play the CM role cos we dont have an AM position. Thr modern game doesnt have an AM position in teams anymore.
As Arteta said, we need to take some risks to get back into the Champions League! Signing Coutinho on a loan would be a tremendous help, giving us a midfielder with a long track record of outstanding goal/assist contributions in the best leagues in the world…
I think it’s a much bigger risk to field Emile Smith-Rowe or someone unproven simply because we don’t like Coutinho’s agent…ESR has one goal for Huddersfield this season. Coutinho has 9 for Bayern and 8 assists. Our midfield could really use him. He is not perfect but he is a risk worth taking.
For €25million this isn’t a bad deal. I also think he would work well in a 3 alongside torreira and xhaka.
A midfiield three with Ceballos, Torreira and Xhaka. You don’t want to fight for top 4 then? Realistically we might have trouble with top 6 if we don’t improve our midfiield considerably.
Waste of money,neat and tidy on the ball but creates very little, not a goal threat and defensively lightweight. Better off keeping AMN.
I would beg to differ, in last few matches he seemed the only one who can be creative in an otherwise toothless midfield
You do know that you can watch games on the television don’t you? Just worried you heard “closed doors” and assumed the games can’t be seen.
???
I know it’s all opinions and I’m not shitting on anyone for this particular one but I’m genuinely mystified at how anyone can look at the prospect of rebuilding this Arsenal midfield and preferring to keep Xhaka or any of the others over Ceballos. I’d happily see us sell Xhaka, Guendouzi and Torreira, keep Ceballos, sign a 10 and a DM and rotate with Willock, ESR and Elneny. I genuinely don’t think Xhakas contributions over the course of a season have been anything more significant than what Elneny contributed in his season with Arsene Wenger before Emery banished him to… Read more »
*that’s crying for a DM can’t have a place in the XI for him then sell him and bring in one who the manager likes.
But in every scenario you keep Ceballos. You can’t keep complaining about the lack of technical quality in your team then turn your nose up at a young technically gifted, combative centre mid like they grow on trees.
We play better with him imho. The attitude is there too. But we need to shed the dead wood. How many years have we been saying that?! Özil top of the list…
To be honest, I’m not completely sold on his skills set (but no doubt about his work ethic and dedication to duties), but I’m sure that Arteta knows what he sees and most importantly, what he expects from him. Moreover, the price being alluded to should be affordable to Arsenal. Like was previously pointed out here by someone else, the keywords should be to “buy right and dedicated” players that suits the Arsenal/Arteta’s style of play. In other words, give Arteta the players that he asked for squad rebuilding. Then the club’s goals and objectives will eventually be achieved.
In my opinion, it’s Ceballos or Xhaka. Not both.
Yes, because we also need a proper defensive midfielder partly for balance in the midfield and also as a shield for our our defenders.
That’s assuming we play 3 at the back… arteta seems to have done this after our losses to get more defensive structure. Arsene did the same when our center backs looked like clowns.
I think he’d prefer a more attacking formation and 3 in the midfield with the right personelle at his disposal.
Sadly it’s still almost the same clowns till now
What if we play 4-3-3 with Xhaka on the left, Ceballos on the right, and (hopefully) Partey behind them? And then they can get rotated with Torreira, Willock, and ESR. I want to see how Arteta uses him.
Ceballos and Xhaka want to do the same thing in the same area of the pitch, but Ceballos is better at it.
They both want a 10 ahead and a 6 behind them ideally. But the technical capacity of a midfield with Ceballos in the middle of it is significantly more than with Xhaka.
xhaka is too slow and cant run with the ball. he cant play a more advanced role.
Ceballos then
I’d like to see Ceballos and Torreira together for a game or two. Feels like they could mesh
But what about consistency? I am not yet convinced!
He consistently puts himself about, that’s what endeared us in the Burnley game ages ago and what we still love recently
i would like us to take a bit of a moneyball style approach.i know it does not translate well to football in all aspects , but there must be cheaper players in the lower leagues who can do things for us, plus with coaching can improve to the level we need. years ago we got dixon , bould , winterburn , seaman from smaller clubs and looked what happened. it can be done. we dont need to go and blow £20 mil plus on players. i think this was sven M’s approach , but now we have raul , i… Read more »
We’re like the QPR with Mark Hughes as manager, but with more money. Look forward to Willian on £200k a week for 3 years and no sell-on fee.
I had that exact thought yesterday too
I’m not saying this is the best signing ever but Willian for 2 years wouldn’t be terrible.
He’s been one of the best performers since the restart, and Martinelli / Saka and Pepe would learn absolutely loads from him.
The moment we let Sven go was the moment we lost the ability to sign hidden gems for cheaper and develop them. We only go by people we know now for better or worse.
On one side we may have the power to finally get the players we have been so close to sign only to be bumped at the last minute by another club.
But on the other hand I don’t think we will ever see a signing like Kante to Leicester out of nowhere based on statistics.
Oh please. Sven signed Sokratis, Guendouzi and Mkhi. Tell me that is finding gems.
I think it’s a good idea provided that he does not play deep. He need to play further forward with players like Xhaka, Torreira or Partey (if we get him) behind him. He could fill in that Ozil role, he’s good on the ball and has really good smart passing techniques that breaks lines. He will do better playing forward. With Spain he plays on the right wing and does really well. I think he’s more comfortable playing as a 8 or 10. The way he plays now is more of an 8 but he need an extra player behind… Read more »
He seems better coming from deep as more of a technical orchestrater. I don’t really see why some cast him as a number 10.
Who are we selling to pay for it? Guendouzi? Maitland-Niles? Anyone else?
If we sell Gouendouzi for a similar amount its a great idea.
Sokratis, Mustafi, Mavropanos, Bellerin, Kolasinac, Holding, Torreira, Elneny, Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette. Maybe one of Leno or Martinez
Not saying I hope all those players go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any combination of them did
It would have been easier to list those players who aren’t to be considered for sale!
Cedric, Luiz, Chambers, Mari, Saliba, Tierney, Xhaka, Willock, Saka, Ozil*, Smith-Rowe*, Nelson*, Martinelli, Nketiah
*may be available for loan
Ahh yes the player that we signed last year and is still contracted to us for 4 years lets sell him!
<b>Not saying I hope all those players go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any combination of them did</b>
And besides, neither of those factors should influence a decision not to sell an underperforming player
For example, allowing Mustafi’s transfer to Inter to in summer 2017 to go through, 1 year after having signed him and 4 years left on his contract, would have been a good decision
People are too harsh on Ceballos partly because of the pre-conceptions they had about him. He’s not a midfielder who finds loads of killer balls like Fabregas or peak Ozil, he’s a deep distributor who can carry the ball upfield and help the team recycle possession – like Xhaka but with slightly worse passing range but the ability to turn and run. Frankly €25 million Euros would be an absolute steal for a player who’s already reasonably bedded into the team and the league. Plus as he was a loan signing we never gave him any time to adjust the… Read more »
A bit like Manchester Uniteds Bruno Fernandez. Just needs to start hammering through passes onto Eddie Nketiahs toes .
Typing this now I realize Maybe the presence of a deep forward (almost like an attacking midfielder) in Lacazette is reducing his effectiveness, pushing him further back into midfield instead of further into the opposition box
€25m is 100% worth it. Regardless of whether we have got the best out of him this season, there are very few similarly talented and young CMs available for that kind of money
Bring in a more dominant midfield partner next to him and he should start showing more influence in the final 3rd, rather than having to spend most of the game scrapping in our half
?
Totally agree – €25M for a young creative midfielder who was player of the tournament in the recent u-21 UEFA Championship, who has 9 caps for Spain, and who has already shown himself to be a good player in the Premier League this season? That’s a no-brainer deal and we should get it wrapped up before anyone else steps in.
“rules in Spain which prohibit betting companies involvement as club sponsors (their current shirt sponsor is bwin)”
That is excellent btw, hope England follows suit
Im still a bit on the fence with Ceb. He has though gone up in my estimation thanks to his recent performances. 25mill euros seems decent price. He will not be an answer to our MF issues though…He has a creative streak in his game but he is no “No10”. More a Rambo alternative but with less goals. Maybe settling in London will help his goal and assist count but I would still be hoping we are looking at another creative MF and another DMF type. Where do we get that cash from? Going into next season with only Xhaka,… Read more »
For €25m it’s a no-brainer, he’s hugely talented and I think people sometimes forget how young he is as well.
if this prevents the partey deal, then no
For me, the issue is he doesn’t have a lot of end product, he’s busy and tries a lot, but we concede to many goals and don’t score or create anywhere near enough through the middle, I like Dani Cabellos, But i don’t think he fixes either of those issues, In a champions league team he would be a squad player
Yes but maybe Inna better team his talents would be more productive. We don’t have the ball enough to really let him show off his creative side
I A M R E A D Y #YaGunnersYa.
Ceballos is a great part of the squad. We do need a full overhaul of players. Realistically we should look to move on: Sokratis, Ozil, macey, Guendouzi, Kolasinac, Willock, Chambers, Mavropanos, Elneny and Mkhitaryan. Maybe Mustafi and Lacazette too depending on who we can bring in. An unpopular opinion but also Aubamayang if we can get more than £60m. Then we have some exciting players coming back from loan: Saliba and Smith-Rowe. Also promoting youth players has to be a big part of our plans due to limited money and great potential such as Saka (LW/RW), Sheaf (CB), Balogun (ST),… Read more »
I think the budget will be £0 before player sales. I think you’re a bit optimistic there.
Very true this is quite optimistic! I am hopefully we can use this window to set up a very bright future with some young players at the core.
I thumbs upped your comment only partway thru it.
That was a mistake.
Do not agree with any of this ….
Ozil we know will let contract run down.
And IMO kola won’t move and see out contracts.
Kola is top five best paid left back in world , no one will take that on, not even China.
Think the rest play ers you mention we can see getting money for .
Hope pea stays .
Before the restart I would have said no to this, as he’d been very ordinary save the Burnley game at the start of the season. He’s been extremely impressive lately though, and it appears he’s really beginning to respond well to what Arteta wants from him.
€25m is great value in today’s market for a fairly young player of his potential, so that also helps. I’d be all for this if true.
Translation: Ceballos’ agent is getting busy.
If we sell Guendouzi for the same amount to offset the cost of Ceballos I’m all for it.
Honest question here.
Has anyone seen anything on a consistent basis to think Ceballos is the future or or answer to Arsenal’s lack of a midfield presence problem?
IMO, he’s been streaky. Has looked fine against the relegation sides. But hes invisible against the better sides: wolves, spurts, etc.
I think he’s a total lightweight. Buying him a mistake, and the club will regret it. I could be wrong, predicting the future being a tricky business and all that.
It really is encouraging how he’s knuckled down and worked on his game. That’s exactly the sort of character we need and want at club!
Özil out, Ceballos in.
Coutinho though…not sure
I think Ceballos is a great player and the fans who don’t see that, the fans that want to say “well he is in Xhaka’s favored position”, in my opinion they just don’t know the game. Arsenal need a total overhaul but talented, intelligent players like Holding, Ceballos, and Lacazette need to stop being undervalued.