Arsenal: “Desperation” doesn’t describe Dani Ceballos decision

Arsenal will be looking to keep Dani Ceballos on loan for another year, but that doesn’t have anything to do with “desperation” or anything of the sort.

As the transfer window opens up, one thing Arsenal has to consider is what to do with Dani Ceballos. The Spanish midfielder has stamped himself on this club and it will be hard to move past him if he does return to Real Madrid and the Gunners aren’t able to make this permanent or prolong the loan.

It’s a stressful situation in need of a resolution, but calling the Gunners “desperate” to secure Ceballos permanently seems a bit… dramatic. But that’s what headlines are meant to be.

Ceballos was brought to the club for a very specific purpose and under very specific parameters. We needed him to be the midfield pivot that connects the defensive building from the back with meaningful attacking play.

He did that. It took him a while, but he did that. Now, with his future uncertain, Arsenal know one thing—that they need a midfield pivot like Dani Ceballos.

Obviously it would be great to keep Ceballos. While the price Real Madrid may be looking for has fluctuated between £22m and £50m, you can bet that there is an open dialogue between the two clubs about what a permanent deal would look like.

The more likely scenario, since money is at such a premium, is that Ceballos would stay on loan for a second year.

And again, it makes sense why the Gunners would want to make this happen, but I just feel that it’s wildly inaccurate to call their motive here “desperate.” It’s not like Ceballos is the only midfielder in the world who can do this job. It’d just be nice, for continuity’s sake, to keep him since he’s already acclimated to the role. But if we can’t keep him, we have internal solutions like Joe Willock, who I think would complete a midfield of Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka so well.

The midfield is definitely a top priority of this offseason, and there’s a lot of work to do. Ceballos can solve a big portion of that task list, but again, it’s not like it’s do or die with prolonging his stay.

The good news is it seems like he wants to stay, which is always the first step towards actually staying. Even if it’s pretty far from the final step.