To be honest, I was having high hopes that Arsenal could persuade Dani Ceballos to stay at the Emirates for at least one more season, if not permanently, but the Spaniard seems convinced that he is going to figure in Zinedine Zidane’s plans next season.
Ceballos was quoted as saying on Sportsmole: “When I was at Valdebebas (Madrid’s training ground) two or three months ago, he told me he was following the Premier League, that he had seen me play and that he was happy I was getting the minutes I hadn’t had previously.
“My relationship with him is healthy. He always told me I was like him; that I was a player who needed to play a lot of games in order to play at a high rhythm.
“He has always said that my future is at Real Madrid and that I should be patient because it’s possible I’ll have an opportunity.”
Although that seems definitive, it does not necessarily mean Zidane will welcome him back wholeheartedly. Ceballos has hardly set the EPL on fire with just 1 goal and 2 assists in 24 games for Arsenal, but I do think he would have improved for us once he became totally settled in London, and given a run of games under Arteta’s tutelage.
We have seen glimpses of his skills from time to time, but maybe not everyone has been convinced that he would make it in England.
What do you think? Would you be sorry to see Ceballos go back to Spain?