The signing of Dani Ceballos could spell trouble for Mesut Ozil

It looks very likely that Dani Ceballos will be an Arsenal player in a few days time and while his arrival will be welcomed by most, it could spell trouble for Mesut Ozil.

This is of course just an opinion, no one knows apart from Unai Emery how he will deploy Ceballos and chances are he probably does not know himself right now.

But taking Emery’s own words about the 22-year-old and you can see how it may affect the German playmaker.

“We were speaking about the possibility to sign one player on loan and we have different names”, Emery said

“The club was working on that. Ceballos is a very good player, I know him from Betis at the beginning and also at Madrid.

“He is a No.10 & No.8 player.”

Ceballos is versatile for sure but I cannot see him being played anywhere else other than the traditional No.10 role. To move him back into a standard midfield role it would mean displacing Torreira or Xhaka and I do not see Emery doing that, especially with Guendouzi in the mix as well.

If Arsenal do sign a winger that will squeeze out Ozil even further and we already know that the boss is not overly confident using Ozil in away games.

This is just an opinion obviously, however, the more I think about the role that Ceballos will probably play the less I can see a place for Ozil.

No doubt there are formations that can include all the players I have named above but would they really be the best use of these players, out of position and so on just to fit a particular player in the team?

38 Comments

      1. On his last season with Betis (before move to Real), Ceballos clocked 3.1 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per match on average. He’s great at defending, but at Real I think he played in more advanced role.

      2. Or it could just be that when Emery finally woke up to the fact that when he played his FOUR best players together last season Lacazette Aubamayang Ramsey And Ozil were part of a team that won FIVE out of FIVE.By replacing Ramsey with Cellibas he will not be looking to start too many games without them all in the same side I would have thought

  1. Well Ozil hasn’t been pushed since he arrived here. Ideally we should get rid of him.

    I wish we could get Fekir to replace Ozil or compete with

    If Ceballos can do a better job at CAM then Ozil, why not give it a try. We can always try Niles or someone behind him

    Our players haven’t had much competition which was a huge complaint from me during the Wenger era

    Without competition, players get lazy and too comfortable ie Ozil

    1. At least now I can read in peace without seeing get Fekir, get Fekir he is cheap and world class. Fekir is a Real Betis player now.
      Regarding Ceballos, I hope Emery doesn’t go bonks and play him on the wings though, because it seems it’s what our managers do

    2. Yeah. If Emery plans to use a no 10 or no 8 tactic again, he should have chased Fekir or Isco instead. I know he is more comfortable to work with his ex-players such as Banega, Suarez and Ceballos, but I highly doubt Ceballos’ commitment if he comes on a loan deal without any purchase option

      I hope Emery switches to 4-3-3 after the pre-season, because our defense looked fragile in 4-2-3-1. My line-up prediction if he uses 4-3-3:

      …………………..Leno
      Maitland-Niles . Mustafi . Sokratis . Tierney
      …………………..Xhaka
      ……….Ceballos ……….. Torreira
      …………………Lacazette
      ….Aubameyang ………………. Mkhitaryan

      1. Replace Mustafi with pretty much any of our CB’s.

        Xhaka to bench and Guendouzi as CDM.

        Auba Laca upfront, and Mkhitaryan/Iwobi/Özil as CAM.

      2. More bullshit. How is Ceballos Emery’s ex player, when he only played for Betis and Real??

        You doubt Ceballos commitment if he comes on loan??
        Are you for real?

        If he plays to his best, he will either be welcomed back by REAL MADRID, or he will be pursued by a whole host of top clubs.
        That’s not enough motivation??

        Just look at Chambers’s loan at Fulham – their player of the year because he knew he would either get another chance with Arsenal or attract interest by another big club.

  2. If ceballos is going to take ozil place then we should really try and sell ozil then, because it doesn’t make sense having a player who gets 350k weekly to sit on the bench,if ceballos can at least make half the impact of Bernardo Silva then it will be a successful loan.

    1. I believe the loan signing of Ceballos is intended exactly for that purpose and I think they want Ozil to know it too!

      If Ceballos is given a starting place right away Ozil will know his future at Arsenal is over. He will want to leave, surely?!

      Ceballos = Ozil frozen out?

      1. We’ll look at Bale ar Real hé knows he is not wanted but won’t move unless he gets the same 600 000,he said he was ready to run his contract out playing golf!!

    2. No buyers for Ozil. Nobody will touch him with those wages. We will have to wait until his contract runs out. Can’t wait for that day…

      1. He came to Arsenal because The Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world, when he helps The Arsenal to get back into the fight, he will be a hero. Those numbers he gets, once we get other areas up to scratch, you’ll see just how important those kinds of numbers are. If Henry were here now, it would be similar numbers. Lacazette as good as he’s been, is our second most deadliest, we need to get the areas up to scratch, if we manage it, these two strikers will go down in folklore.

  3. hopefully he can play more of a carzola role linking defence to attack and supporting ozil … wenger failed to combine ozil jack and santi due to his silly tinkering and unlucky injuries but xhaka who is amongst the worst of the wenger stock must be relegated to cup games if we are to progress

  4. I’m not convinced that it will be Ozil who get replaced…… I’m not Ozil’s biggest fan (overrated and overpaid imo) but he has been better in pre season whereas Xhaka has been poor again.

    Could well be that Ceballos comes in to replace Xhaka and give us a Cazorla-like presence to move the ball from defense up the field.

    Either way, the versatility to play in multiple positions means Emery can use him in place of whoever is underachieving in the midfield.

    When everyone is fit I can see this as a potential line up:
    ……………..Leno
    Bellerin..Sokratis..Holding..Tierney
    ….. Torreira………Ceballos
    ……………. Ozil
    Auba………….Laca……Zaha/Soares

  5. I see this as a benefit to Ozil. From what I have seen on this guy it looks like he could be the key to getting Ozil back to form again very similar to when he had Santi behind him.

    If Ceballos is to play a little bit deeper and help dictate the play and link the midfield to the attack this could be just the tonic Ozil needs to get back to his creative best.

    In my opinion Ozil is still a very good player but our system last season did not suit him. This signing could be key in him getting back to his best.

    Then again…I could be totally wrong and Ozil is finished at the top level haha

    1. It could be his attitude, too. But I don’t want to believe Ozil is finished. Ozil at his best is one if our best players, if not the best.

      But for him to get in form I’d the issue, let’s see what’ll the new season will bring though.

  6. Ozil is a lazy player as we all know from his past antics, will not track back to defend, turns up when he feels like it,all the same he can win a match if he is in the mood to play.So if we get Ceballos and he takes his place,Ozil finishes up on the bench, but remember he says he wants to stay and we are lumbered with him,he is on three hundred and fifty thousand pounds a week would you want to go anywhere,I know I would’nt.

    1. Yeah, lazy, but can win a game when he wants to

      If only something can be done about his attitude

  7. Maybe we should let the season begin and let’s see what happens. Everything is not always so black and white, I mean, Suarez didn’t bench Ozil, when some thought he would, so let’s see what happens.

    But if Ozil plays well like some say he’s doing in this preseason, then I think it’ll be better for Ceballos to play behind him, not replace him. Cos there are very few attacking midfielders that’ll do what Mesut Ozil does at his best, and Ceballos isn’t one if them.

  8. Arsenal has so far played a canny waiting game of transfer poker.

    Martinelli 7m
    Saliba 5m down payment.
    Ceballos 2.7m loan deal.
    Promoting 3-4 free academy players.

    So if we have spent 15m of the claimed 46m kitty
    we have just 31m to buy 60m Zaha and 25m Tierney?
    We are 50m short.

    So what cards do we have in hand to play?
    We have more money than they told us?
    Zaha or Tierney? Both?
    What players are being being sold or money and player deals?
    Jenkinson 9m? Koz 5m? Chambers 17m? Mkhitarian 17m Aubameyang 50m? Iwobi 25m?
    There are so many possibilities and it will be interesting how this plays out.
    Exciting times 🙂

    1. Not exciting for me, to see Chambers, Aubameyang and Iwobi gone.
      We need players coming from the bench and Iwobi can do that for attack and Chambers for defense if need be.I’d say goodbye to Jenko, Elneny, Mkhitaryan, Mustafi, Laurent and Xhaka.

  9. As for the Zaha issue, I don’t know why people are saying he’s overpriced. I’ll be blunt, Zaha isn’t overpriced ,we’re just being miserly or poor. Though we need a Cb more, he’s one of the things we desperately need. I don’t care how much you spend for a player, IMO, if you need him, if he’s an important piece of your team’s puzzle, then he’s worth every penny you pay for him.

    I won’t mention why we need a winger, we all saw the need for one in uel final. As for Zaha, can anyone here that thinks he’s not good enough name a needed attribute of a winger that he lacks?

    You can blame the board for not spending on a cb we also need desperately, but not a word against Zaha, he has all the attributes needed of a good winger.

    1. I think Zaha is a player who will get me up off my seat, Arsenal don’t have too many of those these days so if we pay the full asking price I think it will be money well spent. The only downside is that we still urgently need a quality central defender so it’s a question of budget which is obviously a problem for our ambitionless owners!

      1. I am so excited at the thought of Wilf in our colours..yes I know our defence needs sorting, but there’s always a player or 2 out there, who you’d love to see sign for your team & that player, for me, is Wilf! I hope we pull it off, although knowing AFC as we do, I won’t be holding my breath ?

  10. Fekir is injury prone and giving the incompetence of Arsenal’s medical team, North London is just not the place for Fekir. Cazorla was injured for five years, left and had an explosive season in Villarreal. Fekir could be injured forever

    1. Chu Ahorlu, but the medical team have been updated and Holding is way in front of his comeback date…not sure about the Bellerin situation.
      Why do our fans keep looking backwards to compare situations in an unfavourable light?
      Just look at the treatment that Ramsey and Eduardo received, why do fans keep running the club down?

      As for Ozil, if Ceballos is a better player in UE’s mind for that position, he will play him…it doesn’t matter what salary either player is on does it? That’s what Ue is being paid a very large salary for isn’t it?

      The same goes for Iwobi as well.

      Not sure why this signing (if it happens) should be trouble for anyone, after all we still haven’t replaced Ramsey have we?
      Just maybe, UE believes that the two of them will forge the same kind of understanding that Ozil and Ramsey had?

      1. I quite remember the same issue being discussed here when Santi was signed
        People here said there was no way Santi and Ozil could play in the same team but it happened.
        It is about time we leave some of these things to the manager

  11. I haven’t seen him play I don’t think. I was reading a fair bit about him and can’t remember who, but they said he does a lot of work linking midfield to the forwards, but he usually turns back soon after getting forward, they said he’s not like Ramsey in the sense that Ramsey joins in with the forwards, also I don’t think he’s always looking to assist when he gets into those areas. That might change. I think we’ll see him in a midfield three, a midfield two, and in that Ramsey role so to press opposition. I see him sometimes playing with Torriera, sometimes Xhaka, Guendouzi as-well to get a better idea, he’ll give us more options and hopefully he’ll fit right in and improve the quality all round. He passes, tackles, intercepts, reads play, links up, and dribbles, so I don’t see him taking Ozil’s mantle that’s if it is still in affect. I think better wide players will be the biggest threat to Ozil’s game-time, but he mostly played home games so we’ll see.

  12. Frankly, I do not want Ceballos on loan, we are not the kind of clubs who will train players for RM and we do not have shortage in the position, we have a surplus even, I can count at least 5 players.

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