Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos knows that his days at the club are ‘numbered’ with him set to return to Real Madrid this summer.
The Spaniard has been on loan at the Emirates since the summer, having elected to move to London to find the regular playing time that wasn’t on offer at the Bernabeu.
He made a flying start to life with the Gunners but like their form that soon curtailed and a lack of form plus injuries have limited his playing time.
He has been a regular under Mikel Arteta since his arrival in January, but that has not convinced the midfielder to try and make the move permanent.
In fact, the opposite is true, and according to Marca, Ceballos knows his time at the club is limited, and he will have to return to Madrid.
They explain that Ceballos plans to finish the season at Arsenal, signing an extension to his loan deal until the end of the campaign, before returning to Spain.
Another move is likely on the cards for him, though, as Zinedine Zidane has made it clear there is no place for him in the current Real Madrid squad.
Ceballos wants to play and feel important but knows that is ‘impossible’ under the French coach and thus a move elsewhere is on the cards.
Selling him is not an issue for Madrid; they consider him a player with ‘a good sign’ and they believe there will not be much trouble finding a suitor.
Valencia are likely to be willing to pursue a deal, having tried to sign him in the January transfer window but failed.
Marca explain that they made an offer for Ceballos, but a deal was deemed impossible by Real Madrid as Arsenal had already paid for his loan and there was no way for them to ‘break’ the transfer to send him to Valencia.
