Arsenal: Retaining Dani Ceballos is Crucial for Mikel Arteta

Dani Ceballos has proven his value in sheer hustle and persistence alone; he must remain for Arsenal to continue forward unabated.

It is not difficult to understand why a player as wonderfully gifted as Mesut Ozil didn’t feature at all when football returned to England; his offensive abilities do not make up for his lack of defensive bustle. It is equally as easy to see why Dani Ceballos did get to feature as Arsenal won the FA Cup for the 14th occasion.

For a club like Arsenal, with such perennial defensive issues of late, a disinterest in defense is a major issue; with Dani Ceballos however, this is no issue at all. This is because for Ceballos, the only way he knows how to play is both ways; this type of play helped to organize Arsenal for a much better restart than was seen prior to the season’s suspension.

In turn, this helped to energize other players in midfield, like Granit Zhaka, as well as further up the pitch where the forward play only dipped to small degrees with Gabriel Martinelli’s injury. As this occurred in real time, over weeks and weeks, other players have become surplus and therefore, available to be sold. But they can only be sold successfully should Arsenal retain Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid; this must be done, without question.

Can Arsenal Snare Dani Ceballos From Real Madrid for Good?

Yes, but it will cost them. This is fine though, as Arsenal do have players valued by other clubs, as well as ownership money (maybe). As detailed in the piece earlier this week featuring discussion on the future of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, there are many players who can be sold for additional funds.

Sokratis, Alexandre Lacazette, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, Matteo Guendouzi and potentially others as well. Yet some of the budget, no matter the price, will have to go to agreeing a proper transfer with Madrid for Ceballos.

If by some means Arsenal could swap someone plus cash for Ceballos on a permanent basis, this would be both ideal and preferable; with that said, Arsenal are trying to negotiate down from Madrid’s target price, considering even trying to have Dani’s loan extended with an option to purchase afterwords.

These negotiations must be reconciled soon, to ensure the player’s continued growth and participation, with a new season for the Gunners right around the way, Meanwhile, for Los Blancos, it is in there best interest to get some money for a player they seem to be less keen on in long term than Arsenal.

But will they?

In My Opinion, Yes

I say this because without spending this money, Arsenal will have to spend even more to find a player of comparable quality. While Arsenal still remain in the hunt for any number of midfielders – from Lyon, Milan and Roma – keeping Ceballos would offer Arsenal midfield flexibility whether they keep Granit Xhaka or not.

And while he is a midfield player, his quality and work rate extends to both the backline he protects, as well as the forward play that his service accentuates. Signing Ceballos has great benefits across the team and sends a message to both players and fans that Arsenal are on the upswing, fully prepared to challenge both domestically and in Europe, no matter the competition.

Arsenal are notoriously hard negotiators and this to me feels no different; signing Willian, Ceballos and Lille’s Gabriel are three great additions for Mikel Arteta in the condensed summer window, and likely not the end of window’s activity. For the Arteta revolution and Arsenal, these moves are healthy and encouraging; retaining Dani Ceballos is, after all, a major part of the shared vision of Arsenal moving forward.