According to AS (relayed by Sport Witness), Arsenal are close to extending Dani Ceballos’ loan from Real Madrid for another season.
The Spain international has become a fulcrum of Mikel Arteta’s midfield since football’s restart and has put in a series of impressive shifts alongside Granit Xhaka.
Having looked like he might return to Spain in January following a spell on the sidelines with injury, it’s quite a turnaround for the 23-year-old.
Previously worried that limited playing time at Arsenal might jeopardise his chances of making his country’s Euro 2020 squad, he obviously fancies his chances of being a regular starter.
A loan extension certainly looks good on paper for the Gunners who probably aren’t in a position to commit to a permanent deal in the current climate but might be able to secure the player next summer for a reasonable price. It’s hard to guess what the loan fee might be for another 12 months of Dani’s services but it won’t be insignificant.
Good news. Dani has been excellent during the restart. A further year with an option to buy for £20-£25m might be a shrewd move.
He’s still quite young with potential to grow better!
Fascinating to know if we can cap a permanent signing fee as part of the loan agreement.
If he has a great season we might not be able to afford him next year!
Good news. One of the few players we have in our squad who actually passes the ball FORWARD and with fizz. Also in my view an underrated tackler. I do worry that he and Xhaka like to occupy the same space, however.
Yeah, I think he morphs into a Xabi Alonso. With a Partey in defensive midfield we can have an attacking midfield duo (Cebal as CM) and a sexy AM. Ooophh dammnn
This is what I thought we’d do initially at the start of the season with Ozil as the CAM and Torreira at DM.
But yeah a 3 man midfield with a DM (I’d be happy with Torreira but I’d welcome Partey) Ceballos as CM and a more adventurous (Ramsey style) 8 alongside him would be back to some semblance of quality in midfield. Xhaka is a solid squad option, but so is Elneny, if we had to sell one Xhaka gets us a lot more money that can be better spent elsewhere.
I think Mikel would almost always find a way to put Xhaka in his team. He’s one of his top Generals
But it is a big reason why we cannot create and dominate against midtable teams. When we the team dominating possession with Xhaka at the helm we play super slow, his strengths are easily negated (passing – press him and don’t give him time on the ball), and his weaknesses exposed (one-footed – show him to the right; slow – play fast on the counter). Currently against the big teams we cannot compete in the middle of the pitch for control so Mikel has focussed on structure. Thus we slow down the game and play a structured game so we… Read more »
Is he better than Henderson though ????
I think he is (having never seen Henderson) , so who knows what alchemy-mix Mikel can throw him into with a worldclass team around him
As in Xhaka is better than Jordan Henderson? Who you’ve never seen?! Ummm, yeah that’ll do me.
Better technically or equally as technical, No ?
Not seen Henderson this season nor last (their two title winning seasons), mostly solely watch Arsenal. However I seem to remember ‘consensus’ around the time he was bought (alongside Downing etc) and even until these recent successes were he was crap. Public opinion swings really quickly, and everybody looks great in a winning team. Everybody looks shit in a crap team effort
I keep seeing this as an argument for Xhaka and I genuinely don’t get it. First of all Henderson doesn’t play as the deepest man very often, he plays either in the double pivot or as a right sided mid. He is better in many regards. I think the only thing Xhaka does better is defend in a compact low block. He’s shown to be really quite impactful in that very specific style and role. Otherwise Henderson is the more athletic and technically proficient player. Klopp recognised the limitations of Henderson at DM and spent huge amounts on Fabinho and… Read more »
Xhaka isn’t similar to Mikel ?
Arteta had no speed, but he was much better technically and mentally. My memory of Arteta’s playing days was he was not flashy, but did everything properly. I don’t remember he pulled any Xhaka ever.
There’s a lot more similarities in play style and ability between Arteta and Henderson than either of them and Xhaka.
Arteta had La Masia nurture. Of course he’s ahead of Xhaka they’re similar energy in my eyes
@Goonero I agree with a lot of what you’re saying but your analysis of Henderson is slightly off. He started under Klopp as the deepest in a midfield 3, competing with Fabinho for his place, and he only moved out to the right after Henderson himself told Klopp he could do a job there. They were struggling in that position due to injuries to Ox and Keita, and the rest is history. Keita was also brought in as, and still is, and attacking midfielder not a DM. Otherwise agree with you. As much as Xhaka has improved, comparisons with Henderson… Read more »
Henderson is Footballer Of The Year.
This just goes to show what a completely shit year it’s been for football.
Haha, or (having not watched him) he provides ‘worldclass structure’ for the rest to run rampage and without him they’ll be shit. If that’s the case, why can’t our Xhaka
I like Swiss Gentlemen. They make the best timepieces, Patek Phillipes etc. Tiny Complex engines/machinations that work forever. There’s something orderly about their society, Horology is a Masters art and that’s what I see when I see Xhaka. I hope (believe) he’ll find the right gear even in a better Arsenal team to keep things ticking like clockwork . ?
The fact is that we haven’t seen Ceballos with Torreira. Maybe with ESR or Willock it would be interesting
Ceballos with Torreira??? Yeah, we tried that against Aston Villa and look how it turned out. So, nada!!! Torreira might be great with the tackles but he’s very limited in his passing, when paired with Ceballos, he diminishes Ceballos attacking quality as Ceballos always has to drop deeper from advanced positions to collect Torreira’s passes in order to prevent needless turnovers in the middle. The only way Torreira works with Ceballos is if he (Torreira) plays as the deepest midfielder in a three-man midfield where Ceballos has a partner (presumably Xhaka/Willock) that collects the ball from Torreira and feeds him… Read more »
I have to agree, Xhaka is a solid player but not quick enough for the EPL. Partey and someone like Ceballos with a potent number 10
I don’t think being a “top general” in such an average side (and a particularly below average in offensive metrics from midfield) will or should protect Xhaka’s place in the side.
He’s the best of what Arteta’s had to pick from, but that’s not by his design, and I doubt Arteta has plans to build a midfield around him next season.
I doubt that too.
Good point, I think the set up and tactics Arteta is putting in place now to get the best out of Xhaka and others are just to make the best of what he’s got. To play the football of his long term vision will require better players.
Selling Xhaka would be barmy on the form he’s shown under Arteta
Xhaka was in incredible in the FA cup semi
@Daveo has already perfectly summed it up, so has @hoffstuntdouble, so instead of me repeating just read their comments.
Excellent analysis of Xhaka in Arteta’s team: https://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2020/07/22/what-arteta-has-done-to-xhaka/
spoiler: he’s been ‘not good’
More like He’s been functional
Yep – I like him as a player, but we need someone more agile to be honest. He’ll be a great player for another club.
Good news if it happens. Get it done Arsenal
It has actually come to this. We are contented with this for a transfer window. I’ll take it anyways.
superb news!
now all we need is that Partey like DM with Torreira as his back up till he further develops
I agree the Ceballos-Partey-Torreira combo is interesting. Torreira is clearly limited in his creativity and without drive and creativity alongside him he struggles. I think he’d be a different kettle of fish with a big box-to-box player and ceballos ducking and diving and running his socks off.
Watch Torreira play for Uruguay, watch his first 6 months with us. He’s not limited at all, he absolutely has that final third killer pass and even finish in him.
I’m not sure what’s funking up his play (injury or wantaway malaise) but he’s got a lot more in his locker than he’s been showing.
For Uruguay he plays in a super simple, conservative role, but does it beautifully. But like many defensive minded midfielders he needs the right players around him. He has mobility, workrate, and aggression in bounds to succeed, but he needs players with drive and creativity to allow him to flourish in his best role.
Completely agree.
And its like everyone forgot how good Torriera was in his first season under Umery…the structureless, headless chicken Emery.
Superb news! Now announce Auba!
Wonder if there’s anything to this Joelson Fernandes stuff?
I sort of hope not. If the ~£15m prevents us signing a starting XI CB, deep lying midfielder, or creative midfielder when we already have very good young prospects Saka and Nelson (etc) to develop for the wings, we would have shot ourselves in the foot
If we somehow actually have plenty of cash (we don’t), and siginng Joelson is a long-term calculated gamble then cool.
It’s important to invest in young talents, but that’s a lot to invest in someone who hasn’t shown very much yet
Does this mean we’ll sell Xhaka. I think they’re a similar profile, although Ceballos is better.
No comparison. Ceballos is an attacking midfielder and Xhaka a deep lying one. Both are needed
Ceballos is clearly a deep lying midfielder.
Have you actual watched him? He’s clearly an attacking midfielder. He and Xhaka compliment each other
https://www.squawka.com/en/dani-ceballos-arsenal-stats-best-position/
I don’t love this until we see what other moves we make in midfield. Dani has been very good since March, but we know the ceiling for this year’s midfield setup, and it isn’t high. With better pieces to come, I’ll look much more favorably on retaining him.
WAHEY!
Great investment in our future.
Loans may be the best way forward, given our limited budget. The big risk of a loan is the integration period, and we’ve finished that with him. If he has a great season and gets us into the top 4, the financial perks will offset the disappointment of losing him.
It all depends on how much the loan fee is. If is is below 7m, it will make sense. If it is more, a direct purchase will make more sense financially.
we need partey, Issa diop,zaha and Szoboszlai……and that’s instant improvement right there……..Kroenke all eyes on you now
Why in the name of God, would you want Zaha??? We already got Saka and Martinelli who IMO are better than whatever Zaha would give us.
Ceballos, Xhaka and Partey is a genuinely good midfield. Which is why being an Arsenal fan leads me to think it’ll never happen.
Interesting. Except the Xhaka part. And the fact that Partey – who’s actually watched him play apart from youtube – isn’t an Arsenal player and likely wont be given what he’ll cost.
No, it isn’t. We’ve sorely lacked both creativity and goals from midfield.
We ought to get rid of one of Xhaka or Ceballos and replace them with someone who can move the ball quickly and fucking run around a bit.
We’re not getting Partey anyways, the Kroenkes are too cheap.
I wouldn’t say get rid of as so far as compliment perhaps?
if we are to lose 2 midfielders(guendouzi and torreria) we can replace them with a CDM and a CAM.
Just needs to beef up a bit. Should eat enough of brown rice and red meat. ?
Fantastic. He looks more mature than a 23 year old. Get in!
If we cant afford Partey, we should try and grab Doucoure from watford.
Honesty keeping Dani is amazing g but I have a feeling we need to cash in on Auba, to generate transfer funds. And I think laca needs to go aswell….as we have no transfer kitty…. and I have a feeling we will go young and hundry in attack…. and get a midfielder and a center back….. Auba goals will be missed but he needs champions league football and we need the cash… simples
Hope we can extend him. One of the players who has taken on Arteta’s instructions well. A season loan extension is decent option for both parties. if we are still shite, he can move on, if not his stock will be up and he can decide to stay or leave. Hopefully we have an option to buy built in. If we keep him he will continue to build on postives between him and Granit. Would think the next priority in midfield would be to secure some sort of redundancy in case the crucial piece of the jigsaw Xhaka falls injured.… Read more »
Glad you got Fekir in there.