Mikel Arteta has said he would like to keep Dani Ceballos at Arsenal beyond this season and that talks are continuing with the midfielder’s parent club, Real Madrid, about a deal.
Ceballos has shaken off a mixed start to his loan in north London, which included two months out with a muscle problem, to play an important role in the side’s recent revival. He scored a late winner in the FA Cup quarter-final at Sheffield United last week and his run of form has coincided with Arsenal winning four matches in a row for the first time in 2019-20. Arteta had urged him in January to “take a step forwards” and now appears convinced of his longer-term potential.
“Yeah, we are talking to the club,” Arteta said when asked if he was aiming to retain Ceballos’s services. “Obviously we don’t own the player, he’s not in our hands so the clubs will need to have a communication and see what we can do.
“I’m really happy with him, the way he’s evolving, and I love how much he likes to play football – the passion he puts into every training session and every game, you just have to see his celebrations. I think he’s evolving in the right way and he’s becoming a really important player for us.”
Ceballos is contracted to Real until 2023 and it remains to be seen whether a permanent deal is realistic given Arsenal’s financial constraints, or whether the clubs might explore a further loan. Speaking more generally about the transfer market, Arteta said he would consider exchange deals this summer, if they fit his requirements.
“We have to be open to different situations. And I think the market will give us the opportunity to do certain deals like this [swaps] but at the moment I cannot comment on any of that.”
Matteo Guendouzi, who has been left out of the last four match-day squads and seems likely to pursue a future elsewhere, is one obviously tradable asset who may offer Arteta wriggle room. The head coach said last week that “nothing has changed” regarding the behaviour he expects from Guendouzi if he is to return and, when asked whether it should have changed by now, offered short shrift. “I don’t know, the reality is it hasn’t so we are still where we are.”
It is a situation Arteta must resolve but the outlook before Leicester’s visit on Tuesday night is otherwise sunnier than at any point in the campaign. Arteta has been delighted with the team’s application in recent weeks and saw them boost their European prospects considerably with a dogged 2-0 win at Wolves.
A victory against Brendan Rodgers’ third-placed side would heighten previously outlandish hopes of a push for the Champions League places but, given Arsenal must bridge a gap of at least six points in the next five games, Arteta would settle for being in some form of contention on the final day.
“If we will be able to do that on the last day then we would have done really well to have given ourselves a chance,” he said. “But in the end it does not depend on us at the moment.
“It is clear that it is not in our hands; the only thing we can do is win as many games as possible and see what happens with the opponent. [If] it would be 15 games it would have been much easier but that is the situation we have. We will try to the end.”