Arsenal: Dani Ceballos earning another Santi Cazorla star

Arsenal may finally have replaced Santi Cazorla with Dani Ceballos given what all the chatter is about. He’s earned another similarity.

I get the whole notion of not talking too much about how amazing Dani Ceballos is so that we can steer Zinedine Zidane off the track and let Arsenal swoop in for a permanent buy as soon as possible. But It’s impossible not to talk about him because he’s so damn good.

Even in the the lead-up to the match, Ceballos is evoking more similarities to Santi Cazorla. More than he already had.

Against Burnley, we saw Ceballos spin out of trouble, go to ground, get back up and drive about thirty yards, all without losing the ball. It was just like when Cazorla did similar against Manchester City. The fact that Ceballos is also Spanish and also a renowned ball carrier was already common knowledge, but seeing him play the game like the original Spanish magician was something else.

We saw him picking out passes like Cazorla would, we saw him dribbling like he would, we saw him with endless energy, like Cazorla had. It got to the point where I posed the easiest theory of all: That Dani Ceballos was a premature reincarnation of Cazorla.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

More scientific proof is needed, but I think I’m on to something there.

Now, without another match even being played, Ceballos has evoked another similarity to Cazorla—the praise of his teammates.

That’s one thing that always reminded me how special Cazorla was aside from his play on the pitch. Every single player who has ever played with Cazorla always says that the most talented player they played with was… Cazorla. They talk about his two-footedness, his control of the ball, and the spirit and passion he had for the game.

You can’t have that many people back you as supremely talented and not actually be supremely talented.

Now, Ceballos is working the compliments as well. Following his man of the match display against Burnley, Ceballos is being praised for his ability in training in a very similar way that Cazorla was always praised for similar. It’s eerie, but in the best way possible.

This is the midfielder we’ve needed in the wake of Aaron Ramsey‘s departure, but the fact that he is also able to boil in so many similarities from Cazorla is icing on the cake. I don’t want to say it again, but we have to make the move permanent.