Arsenal: 3 reasons to extend Dani Ceballos loan another year

Dani Ceballos’ future at Arsenal appears to be a non-factor, but there’s still sense behind extending the loan. Here are three reasons why.

It’s amazing how much can change in less than a season, but the Dani Ceballos escapades give a sense of just that. Arsenal brought him in and the only concern that fans had was how we were going to keep him beyond this year. He was immensely talented, highly touted, and played the exact pivot role we’d been missing for years.

There were jokes that he should tank his performances to convince Real Madrid to sell him and in the middle of the season, he spoke about how much he was enjoying it at the Emirates.

But things didn’t go according to plan. Injuries robbed him of half of his season and inconsistency ruined the other half. His stellar performance against Burnley stood as the sole reminder of what he was capable of while also providing a reminder that we didn’t know what we could get out of him on a regular basis, since he hasn’t returned to that level of production since.

Arsenal should extend Dani Ceballos loan for these three reasons

Now, it seems pretty set that he will return to Real Madrid at the end of the season. That is his “goal” by his own admission. But it shouldn’t be. I’ll talk more about why Ceballos should want to stay later today, but for now, here are three reasons Arsenal should want him to stay too, especially on a second-year loan.

We start with No. 3.

3. We know he’s talented

Arsenal needs top-tier players, right? Well, by all accounts, Ceballos is one such player. He has the ability to perform at the level we want to be at, so why not keep hold of such a player for another year? Ceballos may not have completely taken off as we expected, but growth takes time and he’s still in the process of growing into his club.

We still have the rest of the season to see how he has grown even more, and it wouldn’t be surprising to yet again crave for his retention.

On to No. 2.