After being quizzed by reporters, Arsenal manager Unai Emery has had his say on Dani Ceballos’ future with the Gunners. The Spaniard has made 12 appearances this season.
According to Mirror Football, Arsenal boss Unai Emery believes it is far ‘too soon’ to for the Gunners to be considering the permanent signing of midfielder Dani Ceballos.
The ace turned in some impressive performances for us at the beginning of the season. However, the creative midfielder has only started in two of our last five games across all competitions.
The Mirror add that reports are indicating that we’re hopeful of securing the ace’s permanent signature for £30m at the end of his loan spell.
Emery moved to dismiss these reports, reiterating that it’s “very soon to say that” when quizzed about the 23-year-old’s future with the Gunners.
Emery was speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of our Europa League clash with Vitoria this evening.
Here’s what Emery had to say on Ceballos’ future in north London:
“I think it is very soon to say that, Ceballos is doing great things here, he’s playing regularly.”
“Of course I know he has a lot of potential and I think this is just the beginning.”
“But always all the players need time to adapt to the Premier League. He’s in that process and I really want to accelerate it.”
“We are trying to use that energy and enthusiasm reflected in the way we want to play.”
“He has had some good games, sometimes it’s not been easy for him. But I think that’s normal.”
“But I think it’s very soon to say that we want to incorporate him in different conditions.”
“We are only in October, still a long way to take that process.”
“The ultimate goal for me with Ceballos is that he can bring us all his potential and help us to achieve all our goals as a team, with more positive performances. We are more than happy to count on him.”
Ceballos has made 12 appearances across all competitions for us so far this season, although some fans may find it concerning that around half of those have come off the bench.
Ceballos is certainly an extremely talented and technically-gifted player for us to have at the club, but should we be focusing on integrating Mesut Ozil back into the team instead of focusing on the Spaniard’s development?
It’s clear that Ceballos adds slightly more balance to our midfield than Ozil, but is Emery’s decision to play in half-measures the reason why some of our performances have lacked a cutting edge?
If the former PSG and Sevilla boss found a way to utilise Ozil in the central attacking midfield role that he’s made a name for himself in over the years – we’d be much better in the final third.