Arsenal: If these are “alternative ideas” than please just sign Dani Ceballos

Arsenal are certainly not tying themselves down to Dani Ceballos, but given what has sprung up in his stead, can we just rewind and tie ourselves down?

One of the biggest debates this year has been what Arsenal should do with Dani Ceballos. He’s gone around the block, going from “we need him” to “do we really?” to “I guess let’s just wait and see what happens.” And credit to the club, they haven’t tied themselves down to Dani Ceballos.

They’ve been looking at all kinds of midfielder options—both attacking and pivot—and they’re exploring their options. Carlos Soler has sprung up. He’s uh… unproven. He costs as much as Ceballos and…

Well, surely there are other ideas. Marc Roca! Okay. Marc Roca would be a nice signing. He’s going to be relegated in Spain, he’s cheap and… and well, he’s cheap.

But what about attacking midfield options? If we really do go after Thomas Partey, we should be focusing on the attack, right?

“Jesse Lingard linked to Arsenal—”

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Okay. Damn. Fine. Just sign Dani Ceballos already. I get it. Raul Sanllehi and the honchos are just making us appreciate Ceballos by showing us what the alternatives could end up being, and how they are far, far less awe-inspiring.

Dani Ceballos has not had a bad year by any stretch. We have to keep in mind that he had a massive injury right in the middle of what was supposed to be an audition year. His first year in the Premier League. That’s never an easy situation to find yourself in. When he came back from injury, Mikel Arteta handed him the starting job next to Granit Xhaka and guess what? It worked out in a big way. He’s showcasing more solidity and reliability, which we’ve been asking for all year. The stats haven’t started rolling in yet, but that’s okay. They will.

To couple with the injury, we now have this pause interrupting his flow. Further disrupting what Ceballos was hoping to establish for himself. But still, if you pick the pieces from the wreckage, we have seen a lot to be excited about with Ceballos, more than we could fathom with these other three links. All of whom, bar Lingard, I wouldn’t mind seeing for the right price, as an experiment.

But compared to them, Ceballos is a venerated professional. And right now, I’d much rather be on that team than anyone else’s