According to reports, Dani Ceballos had been trying to force his way out of Arsenal this month before backing down when the club stood their ground in the closing days of the winter transfer window.
Gunners fans had been excited back in August when the club completed a season-long loan from Real Madrid for the 23-year-old.
However, the Spanish international has been hindered by injuries during his time in North London and his latest attempt to get a move away from the club will not have gone down with manager Mikel Arteta.
The playmakers technique should be able to earn him a place in Arsenal’s starting lineup on a regular basis, but it’s not worked out so far for Ceballos. What’s made things worse is Mesut Ozil finding his form again since Arteta replaced Unai Emery around Christmas.
Ozil is a popular player among Arsenal fans, not to forget he was a part of Joachim Low’s German national team that won the 2014 World Cup.
Dani Ceballos has been restricted to just seven starts and a further four substitute appearances from a possible 24 Premier League games so far this season. His last Premier League appearance was a 1-1 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 November.
He’s only been handed two starts in the UEFA Europa League group stage too – a competition that the Premier League side have handed a number of fringe players start to prove themselves. This has proved very beneficial to Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Joe Willock, who have gone on to earn plenty of domestic league action following their performances in Europe.
Ceballos’ sole goal for Arsenal so far came during a 4-0 win over Standard Liege in the Europa League back in October, but his career has not kicked on from there. He has just two assists to his name too – both coming in a 2-1 win over Burnley in the second game of the season.
The midfielder looks far short of the confident player who was excellent at the UEFA Euro under-21 championships over the summer, in which he scored twice and assisted two more in five appearances as Spain won the tournament.
He’s even been able to handle his own at Real Madrid in the past, prior to Zinedine Zidane being rehired and seemingly not being a fan of the player. Hence the loan deal.
Whether Mikel Arteta will give Dani Ceballos another chance at Arsenal remains to be seen, but I am confident Arsenal fans will not give up on the player between now and May. Just like a number of Arsenal blogs who continue to keep the faith in the player. We sure know what he’s capable of, it’s now up to the player and the manager to start proving that on the pitch.
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andym
Founder and chief editor of La Liga Blog, Andy fell in love with Spanish football after a university placement year in the Costa Del Sol. His favourite Tapas is Albondigas and on Saturday afternoons, Andy can regularly be found trying to emulate his hero Carles Puyol for his amateur football team.