Arsenal: Oddly, Dani Ceballos has nothing on Granit Xhaka

So you want Dani Ceballos to replace Granit Xhaka at Arsenal? Why? What exactly has Ceballos shown that makes him comparable to the maligned captain?

Ever since Granit Xhaka stormed off the pitch amidst the jeers and boos, the talk has been who should replace him, because apparently they’re counting Xhaka out already. Typical Arsenal fan, honestly. Getting a bit ahead of themselves, aren’t they?

Lucas Torreira and Dani Ceballos are the two that are most talked about, because those are really the only two options. And many are seeing Xhaka’s storm-off as the opportunity that Dani Ceballos needs to get back into the starting XI and suit up next to Matteo Guendouzi in the base of the midfield.

That’s well and good, but what exactly has Ceballos shown that makes him any better than Xhaka? And this is coming from the guy who said that Ceballos was better than Ozil after just one performance. I honestly don’t see why there’s a sudden uptick in belief that Ceballos can play the role any better than Xhaka.

And while numbers don’t tell the whole story, they tell some of it.

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For starters, Dani Ceballos only creates 0.2 more chances per 90 minutes than Xhaka. Despite the fact that Ceballos is meant to be the creative solution that Ozil never could be. That’s fine, he’s not Ozil, but from a deeper role, we still expect him to create and it’s not like he’s knocking that out of the park.

Offensively, he completes 1.1 dribbles per match. That’s better than Xhaka’s 0.3, but not by such a margin that there would be a clear and undisputed upgrade. It’s not one of Ceballos’ strengths yet this year, despite that it’s supposed to be, according to what he has done in the past.

And Ceballos is actually a big drop off defensively from Xhaka, who completes more tackles and more interceptions on a per-90 basis.

When it comes to protecting the ball, Xhaka is only losing the ball 1.1 times per 90 compared to Ceballos, who is twice as likely to lose the ball.

Obviously the numbers don’t tell the whole story and they never will. Ceballos is faster and he has a much higher level of athleticism, but if that all you want in a midfielder, then the bar is being set pretty low. We need to see more out of Ceballos before we go thinking he can fill the gap that Xhaka would leave.