‘With Mikel, I found happiness as a player and as a person. And that is key for a player.” – Dani Ceballos in October 2021 speaking to Arsenal.com.
Dani has progressed as a player under Mikel Arteta, there’s absolutely no doubt about it. When Ceballos first arrived at Arsenal, his main quality was very apparent – it was how press-resistant he is. He is excellent at wriggling his way out of tight situations and typically, the weight on his passes is perfect. But having said that, his one major weakness which deterred him from making that step up was his positional awareness.
When Ceballos signed on loan with Arsenal back in 2019, he made it very clear in his first presser that he wants to improve positionally. That self-awareness is important and from a defensive point of view, Ceballos’ game has gone up a level under Arteta. His reading of the game is a lot better, so much so that he even played at the base of a midfield 3 against Manchester City last year.
Having acknowledged his positional improvement, there are still areas for him to work on. There are times Dani overthinks situations, trying something extravagant as opposed to keeping it simple. There’s a saying ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’ and something for Dani to think about. When you look at Thomas Partey for example, who is a world-class midfielder, everything he does is that one second quicker. That’s the difference between a good midfielder and a top midfielder. Having said that, Dani is still only 24, so he has age on his side – he has a hunger and self-awareness to improve and there is another level for him to strive for.
At the back end of last season, Ceballos was one of our best performers, playing a starring role in the FA Cup-winning run. This season, however, Dani has found consistent game time hard to come by. With Dani missing the community shield win (because he went back to Reak Madrid), Mohamed Elneny started the season ahead of him in the pecking order. Arteta then tended to favor deploying Ceballos against low block sides and Elneny against teams that are proficient going forward.
The signing of Thomas Partey hasn’t helped Dani either. Initially, Arteta tried fitting in all three of Xhaka, Partey, and Ceballos together – but it led to a flat midfield with 0 central receivers in between the lines. This meant only two of the three could play. Whilst Thomas has had injury issues himself, an interesting thing to note is that Ceballos and Partey are yet to start a game together in a midfield two. Arteta has preferred Xhaka/Elneny over Ceballos, even if it is a pretty small sample size.
Xhaka and Ceballos were excellent as a pivot last season. But context is important. Their best games, especially in that FA Cup run came when we played in a back three. From a defensive point of view, they’re not the most athletic midfielders out there – having that extra central defender (Luiz who played in the center of a 3) meant they had the cover and the system could mask their flaws.
This season, however, that hybrid 3-4-3 system has been found out. And as a result, Arteta has been forced to change how we play to make us create chances. In a back 4, Xhaka-Ceballos are quite open. In both the games we played against Leeds, this was particularly evident. One thing is an absolute given – Thomas Partey will be a starter.
At the end of this season, Arsenal will have to make a decision on the futures of Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira. Fabrizio Romano has reported on his ‘Here we go podcast’ that Arsenal want to sell Torreira for cash. And as regards Guendouzi, it will be interesting to see if he can make peace with Arteta – there is obviously a player there. But with just a year left on his contract, would Arsenal/Matteo want to extend considering what went on before? Personally, I just can’t see it.
That leaves us with Xhaka, Partey, and Elneny as the central midfield options at the start of next season. As reported by The Athletic, Arteta wanted to bring in Jorginho in addition to Thomas Partey. This tells us that he’s recognized a need for another deep midfielder. In my opinion, Elneny isn’t at the level required and we must look to shift him on. As a result, we must bring in at least 2 players for this position. I’d like one to be someone like Yves Bissouma – a young, all-action midfielder who has played and done well in the Premier League. The other slot is pretty open and may represent an option for someone like Dani.
The player we bring in for that remaining central midfield slot will obviously depend on our budget. Arsenal will have other positions that they want to address – I see us looking for a right center back, a substitute left-back, an attacking midfielder, and possibly a winger/center-forward. In addition to these, we will also have to bring in 2 central midfielders to compete with Xhaka and Partey.
I know we’re in difficult times due to COVID, but I see Arsenal having a huge summer. I think we will see more spending as compared to last summer when teams were still in shock as to what hit them. Arsenal have also come to the acceptance that the best way to sustain itself as a club is to compete for the biggest honors and consistently make Champions League football. For this, building a strong first team is a ‘non negotiable.’
Massive wages have been cleared in January, and additionally, we have sellable assets – Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, Alexandre Lacazette, Ainsley Maitland Niles, and one of Eddie Nketiah/Reiss Nelson, all among other potential surprises.
As per Transfermarkt – Ceballos has a market value of £28.80m. Perhaps, with the COVID effect, we could get him for around £20-25m. There are 2 scenarios to consider here:
Scenario 1: Firstly, let’s assume we don’t have that much money left in the kitty. In that scenario, a loan move would make sense, if Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Ceballos can come to an agreement. If not, we’ll have to look for someone else.
Scenario 2: Now let’s assume we have the money in the bank to spend £20-25m. We have to ask ourselves – is Dani the best player we can sign at that price? I’m not too convinced as I believe there are better options out there. But having said that, the one benefit Ceballos has is his familiarity with Arsenal, Arteta, and the Premier League. But for me, that should only be the last resort option.
It will be interesting how Edu and Arteta go about this. The club has loaned Ceballos for 2 back to back seasons, they’ve seen him progress as a player and know what he is capable of. Would they further solidify their trust in him by signing him permanently? Time will tell.
I’m very interested to hear what you think about Ceballos’ future – if you were Edu, would you move him on, or look to further loan/sign him? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.