Setién still hopeful of luring Ceballos back to Betis
The Real Madrid midfielder remains a target for his former club with the coach noting “sometimes it’s better to take a step back to be able to play more.”
Betis are in the market for a creative midfielder and Quique Setién remains hopeful that the club can lure Dani Ceballos back to the Villamarín this summer after a season spent on the sidelines at the Bernabéu after the 21-year-old’s €18 million move a year ago.
Setién has issued an open invitation to Ceballos to return to the club where he came through the ranks, noting that “sometimes it’s better to take a step back to be able to play more.”
“I don’t know if at the moment, with the change of coach, his expectations have risen about the possibility of playing a more important role but I always advise young players, even if means taking a step backwards, to be in a place where they will play regularly. The enthusiasm to play when you are young is very high. There is always a process of development and going for long periods without playing always has a negative effect,” Setién told Spanish radio network Onda Cero.
Setién believes Ceballos will be better off at Betis
“Dani is a player we have always liked and I think he can do a lot for us. I think he knows that we are always interested in good players but he is in Madrid at the moment, where maybe he has a different view of things.”
Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui has instructed the Bernabéu board not to entertain offers for Ceballos or Marcos Llorente with the intention of running the rule over the pair during the club’s pre-season tour.
Ceballos barely got a sniff of the pitch under Zinedine Zidane last season and was the least-used member of the squad with just 899 minutes over the course of 2017-18. Ceballos started and scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Alavés early in the season but a now-infamous 30-second cameo appearance against Leganés in February perhaps summed up his frustrating first year at Madrid more accurately.
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