Arsenal: 6 Cut-Price Transfers to Fill Dani Ceballos’ Boots

Box-to-Box Midfielders

This is such a hard position to fill for any team, but for this Arsenal side it will be especially tricky. They lack creative impetus and defensive skill, but their biggest deficit comes in the speed department. One of the greatest criticisms of Ceballos was his lack of real pace, something I’m aiming to repair here.

Let’s start with a top Bundesliga prospect, who, similar to our academy graduates, has not been able to prove his full worth this season.

Exequiel Palacios – £17m

Exequiel Palacios was signed by Bayer Leverkusen from River Plate to the tune of £17m this past summer after a very impressive season in the Argentinian top flight, where he scored seven and assisted ten. Since then, he has played a whopping 433 minutes over seven appearances, with a superb zero goal contributions to his name.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Mac, why in the name of all that’s holy would we want this kid.” Well, that’s just it. The numbers in no way reflect his talent.

For starters, he’s barely touched the field under Leverkusen boss Peter Bosz, rarely even brought on as a substitute. He’s played the full 90 minutes a grand total of once in the league, earning himself the Man of the Match award in that game.

He’s completed 88% of his passes this season, and 60% of his long balls find their target. He’s an excellent regulator of possession, and is equally good at winning it back – averaging 2.5 tackles and one interception per game. He also only gives away 0.8 fouls per game, and is fouled just less than two times per game. That’s a winning combination.

The Argentinian is wasting away on the Leverkusen bench, and with no real end product to show for his efforts, Arsenal should capitalize.

Pros of Signing Palacios

He’s a very similar player to Leverkusen stalwart Charles Aranquiz. While not the tallest, nor the strongest, he’s tenacious, speedy, and composed. He operates best as a deep-lying playmaker, and combines a hard-tackling, hard-running style with an excellent range of passing. He would work very well in Mikel Arteta’s 3-4-3 setup, and as the number six or eight in a 4-3-3.

Cons of Signing Palacios

He’s relatively inexperienced in the top leagues. Success in South America is rarely proportional to success in England or Germany, and on paper, he hasn’t succeeded. He also doesn’t have Ceballos’ ball-carrying abilities out of the back. If he lives up to the hype, he’ll be an excellent all-action midfielder, but he has not shown he can replicate his homeland achievements. It’s a risk, granted.