Dani Ceballos is officially back at Arsenal

Dani Ceballos’ second loan spell at Arsenal has been confirmed. Ceballos joins for a second year-long loan spell from Real Madrid, having played a vital role in Arsenal’s fourteenth FA Cup that was secured last month.

A return had been hinted at for quite some time. Famously, Ceballos watched Arsenal’s Community Shield victory last weekend while on holiday, and after negotiating with Real Madrid, the two clubs finally found a deal. Ceballos, reportedly, turned down loan moves elsewhere to come back to Arsenal.

This is undoubtedly a good thing. While Arsenal’s midfield needs more work over time, entering the season without half of a successful partnership would’ve been a serious downgrade. Over the duration of Project Restart, Ceballos won over many doubters, myself included, with his work rate and play on the ball, helping Arsenal progress at building play out of the back, helped by the coaching of Mikel Arteta, who could be heard yelling, “Dani! Dani” throughout Arsenal’s matches.

He formed a good partnership with Granit Xhaka, and of course, changed Mikel Arteta’s opinion: “Dani was and integral part of our team last season and finished the season in excellent form. I love Dani’s passion and commitment and he’s a highly skilful player.”

Ceballos will likely miss the first match of the season, against Fulham a week from tomorrow, as he has to quarantine, having arrived in the UK from Spain.