According to a recent report by Spanish news source Estadio Deportivo, Premier League giants Arsenal could lose their Spanish loan star Daniel Ceballos in the summer, with the midfielder said to prefer a move back to La Liga over staying on in North London. The report suggests that the youngster is much keener on a potential transfer to Real Betis, even though Mikel Arteta has expressed his desire to keep the Spaniard at the Emirates for next season.
The Real Madrid man has undoubtedly been a breath of fresh air in what is an extremely mundane Arsenal midfield line, and it’s perhaps not overly surprising that Arteta wants to keep Ceballos at the club for the long run. The report further suggests that Los Blancos themselves will not be able to offer the talented midfielder any guaranteed playing time, meaning that a switch back to his former club Real Betis could turn out to be the most realistic outcome.
What Has Dani Ceballos Added To The Arsenal Squad This Season?
The Gunners possess a variety of options in the midfield area, but there is one common trend that seems to linger through all of the names – a lack of creativity. In Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira, despite the sheer mettle and grittiness they would add to the midfield, attacking creativity is something that just seems to evade them. Dani Ceballos has been this Gunners midfield’s saving grace at times this season, and his importance going forward simply cannot be underplayed.
Although the Spaniard started the campaign looking like he’d have the same impact that Bruno Fernandes has had at Manchester United, things slowly took a turn for the worse in a couple of weeks. Having impressed for a few fixtures, the Real Madrid loanee picked up an unfortunate injury that kept him on the sidelines for a while.
The former Real Betis man has featured in just 14 league appearances for Arsenal all campaign. He is yet to open his goalscoring account in the league as well, with only one goal in the Europa League to show for his efforts.
Why Arsenal Should Allow Ceballos To Leave In The Summer?
Keeping a player at a club after he’s already expressed his desire to leave never ends well, and convincing Dani Ceballos to stay at the Emirates could turn out to be a similar blunder. Although he started the campaign looking like a man on a mission, there’s no denying that the Spaniard’s influence within the side gradually dwindled down. Despite operating as the primary creative source alongside Mesut Ozil for various fixtures, the youngster wasn’t able to have the impact that he would’ve been hoping for.
Despite all this, it’s perhaps quite surprising that the Arsenal faithful are still calling for the Spaniard to be signed permanently. Then again, that could be down to desperation, having had to manoeuvre the last few league campaigns without an efficient source of creativity in the middle of the park. Personally, the midfielder hasn’t done nearly enough during his time in England to warrant a permanent place in the Arsenal side, and that’s probably why Arteta will do well to ship him back to the Spanish capital at the end of the season and look for alternatives in the transfer market instead.
