In a recent report, AS offered an update on the future of Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos. It is understood that the Spanish midfield ace wants to stay with Los Blancos and fight for his place in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI.
Ceballos’ Sporadic Role At The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium Last Season
Ceballos played a bit-part role for the Madrid giants in the previous campaign when he struggled to play a prominent role in their first team. The former Arsenal player made 18 appearances for Los Blancos last season, securing just one assist in the process across multiple competitions.
The 25-year-old saw most of his game time come as a substitute which could be why he only averaged 0.9 shots, 0.3 key passes and 0.5 dribbles per game in La Liga. However, he was excellent when distributing the ball from midfield after completing 91.9% of his attempted passes in the top tier of Spanish football (stats via whoscored).
Should Real Madrid Boss Carlo Ancelotti Keep Ceballos Beyond This Summer?
Ceballos can do a little bit of everything at the centre of the park when he is playing regularly on the field. He can offer decent protection for his teammates at the back and can shoot the ball well from long range.
The Spaniard can even make some decent goal-scoring chances for his teammates and remains a good dribbler with the ball. However, he found game time hard to come by at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium last season.
At the moment, Ceballos is surplus to requirements at Real Madrid as he has fallen behind Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde in Carlo Ancelotti‘s pecking order. He is not guaranteed a regular starting spot and needs to switch clubs if he wants to represent Spain in the FIFA World Cup finals later this year.
Therefore, Los Blancos should think about not keeping hold of him beyond this summer. The Madrid outfit would be better off cashing in on Ceballos and using the money generated from his potential sale to strengthen other areas of their squad.
