James McNicholas of The Athletic has suggested that in his view, Arsenal signing Spanish central midfielder Dani Ceballos on a permanent deal would be “smart” business.
The former Real Betis star is currently on loan from La Liga giants Real Madrid after the two clubs agreed on an extension that would see him remain at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the campaign.
Since arriving in north London, Ceballos has made 31 appearances for the club, contributing two goals and two assists (as per Transfermarkt.co.uk). After being sidelined through injury earlier this season, which led to him missing 11 games, the Spain international has started eight of Arsenal’s last nine Premier League games, establishing himself in Mikel Arteta’s side.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Arsecast Extra, McNicholas discussed the prospect of the Gunners purchasing the player and said: “I think it’s a smart deal, I think it’s a deal where you have a very good chance of turning a profit on a player, actually.
“If you could get him for £20m – and who knows, because it’s very difficult for us to pin down the exact parameters of what the transfer market is going to be like – I think you could probably flip him for more money than that.”
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The 23-year-old signed for Real Madrid in a deal reportedly worth £14.85m back in 2017 and for the Spanish outfit, he has made 56 appearances, scoring five goals to date. He has also featured nine times for the Spanish national side, scoring one goal.
According to Transfermarkt.co.uk, the player is currently valued at £28.8m, but we can infer from McNicholas’ comments that he believes Los Blancos may be open to accepting less for Ceballos. If that is to be the case, we also believe that signing the midfielder on a permanent deal could indeed represent a very “smart” piece of business given the promise he has shown in his short career so far.