Arsenal: Dani Ceballos permanent deal a fantasy, just like Nicolas Pepe

Arsenal have Dani Ceballos on a season-long loan. A permanent deal, though, seems like a fantasy. But that is precisely what was said about Nicolas Pepe, and we all saw what happened there.

Arsenal needed an Aaron Ramsey replacement. Sadly, because the Welshman was allowed to run down his contract and walk out of the Emirates door for nothing, they had to find one with very little resource to do so. As such, they got creative.

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The man they eventually settled on was Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos, a 23-year-old central midfielder who wanted an exit in search of greater playing time. Madrid, though, did not want to sell him permanently, and the Gunners could not afford to buy him permanently if they did. And so, a loan deal was agreed, Ceballos spending the season in north London, both receiving the playing time he desired and filling a Ramsey-shaped central midfield hole.

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But the loan move has a fairly obvious downside: it is temporary. While Ceballos has flourished early on in England, his debut against Burnley a brilliant illustration of what he is capable of, everybody knows that this is not a long-term solution to central midfield. If Unai Emery wants to build his team around his compatriot, he will have to sign him next summer, and, as James Benge of Football.London outlined, that will not be easy:

"“Arsenal had wanted to put a purchase option in the loan agreement with Ceballos but Real Madrid were having none of it. Why would they? He’s 23 years old and as Gunners fans have already seen his potential is phenomenal <…> If Ceballos does come on the market I’d expect Arsenal to move for him but at the moment Real Madrid see him in their plans for the future.”"

While Benge’s assessment of the situation is accurate, the very same things were said of Nicolas Pepe. This time last year, when he was just beginning to embark on his 20-plus goal and 10-plus assist season, there was tentative hope among the fan base that Arsenal might make a move for the Ivorian. But as the goals poured in and the price soared, that hope quickly dissipated.

In fact, by the time the summer window rolled around, despite the team desperately needing a dynamic, pacy, goalscoring winger, of which Pepe is a prime example, there was a resignation that the club could simply never afford the Lille star and that he would transfer to a more prominent European side. We all know how that ended.

Now, I am not saying that Ceballos will make his loan permanent next summer. In fact, I thoroughly agree with Benge that it will be extremely difficult for any team to prise him away from Madrid, who, bar head coach Zinedine Zidane who might not even be there this time next year, are extremely high on his abilities.

But football is a strange old game, and the transfer window is the freakiest part. You can never say never, and like Pepe before him, Ceballos could yet shock everyone.