Arsenal: Dani Ceballos asking far more questions than we have answers

Arsenal broke out against Norwich and Dani Ceballos orchestrated so much of it. Cue far more questions than we could possibly answer in so short a time.

Watching Arsenal run riot over Norwich City was actually fun. Like, start to finish… with a short blip at the start of the second half that was, honestly, just boring. But aside from that, the attack was clicking and Dani Ceballos was orchestrating the lion’s share of it.

You wouldn’t have been crazy to predict such a performance. After scoring the late goal against Sheffield to lift his club into the FA Cup semifinals, Ceballos looked pumped up. So yeah, getting a full 90 against Norwich was always going to be fertile ground to see a return to form, which is exactly what we saw.

He was playing no-look, cross pitch passes, lofted over three defenders, and making it look like commonplace. This was a talented midfielder ripe with confidence that hasn’t looked that good since Burnley.

And now we have a discussion to have. A discussion we’ve been trying to sort out all year long—is Dani Ceballos worth it?

And while we’re at it—Is he worth £45m? Can we pry him from Real Madrid anyway? Is he consistent enough to be counted on? Was this a fluke like we thought Burnley was? Can we do better without him? Who steps into his place if we don’t sign him? Who else can we afford if we do sign him?

*Deep breath*

How does this affect Thomas Partey? If Partey is £45m also, do we have the financial resources to afford both? What would it mean to Matteo Guendouzi? Does this answer the creative midfield void that Mesut Ozil would be leaving too? Is he going to produce goals at a good enough rate to merit his price?

Anyone want to jump in here and answer all these questions within the next month? Good luck. What Dani Ceballos did here was reintroduce, as well as create some new, questions that the transfer chiefs have to start asking each other and—spoiler alert—they won’t be able to answer them all.

If any. So much of it won’t be discernible in so little time.

Right now, we should just appreciate him for his performances when they come and be patient when they don’t. There’s no point thinking long-term. There’s no point asking these questions.