5 Arsenal Alternatives for Granit Xhaka & Hector Bellerin

Dani Ceballos – Central Midfield

One of the first positive steps of the summer window was securing Dani Ceballos on another season-long loan from Real Madrid.

His first campaign was hugely underwhelming up until Project Restart, where he began to replicate the level of form that prompted Arsenal to move for him in the first place.

In Spain’s Under-21 European Championship triumph, he was fielded as a No.10 but dropped off to accommodate for midfield runners either side, yet in Arsenal’s setup he find himself dropping in to a centre-back role with no flicker of movement in front of him.

Regardless of that, he hasn’t been an influential as we’d hoped his second spell would be. Placing the blame entirely on him is unjust since the team performances and overall style have limited creativity, while he hasn’t been given an appropriate run of fixtures to gain any momentum.

I’ve banged this drum for a while but I still feel he has to be used 15 yards further up the pitch to have influence, even if as seen against Burnley he has the speed of thought to distribute the ball with more zip than, say, Xhaka. If he is to hit form then he won’t have a better chance to do so given the Swiss’ absence.