Dani Ceballos has sights on World Cup with Spain
The Real Madrid midfielder has no serious offers and wants to feature at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Dani Ceballos has one year left on his Real Madrid contract. The midfielder from Sevilla has yet to receive the right offer to leave the Santiago Bernabéu and could end up remaining with the reigning European champions for another season.
Ceballos is a Real Betis fan, and Betis are a club he would like to return to. Despite his love for Betis, the Andalusian outfit have not yet sent a direct offer Real Madrid for the player.
Madrid are looking for between €12 and €15 million for the man from Utrera, but given the lack of offers, he could remain at the club for the 2022-23 season.
World Cup dreams
Ceballos’ dream is to play at the World Cup in Qatar with Spain and he knows that to do so he needs playing time in the four months remaining before the start of the tournament. The arrival of new signing Aurélien Tchouaméni from AS Monaco could affect his game time even more.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti likes Ceballos. At the beginning of the year, the Italian coach explained to him that as soon as he was in the match-fit, he would have game time. He featured in 16 games, 11 of which were in the league and five in the Champions League, a total of 305 minutes. However, he only started two games, completing one, the win (4-0) against Espanyol, which saw Madrid lift their 35th league title.
Returns following spell with Arsenal
Ceballos returned to Real Madrid last season after spending two seasons on loan with Arsenal. His luck ran out when he went to the Tokyo Olympics and suffered a severe injury in the first match against Egypt. He returned to normality in January, eventually finding minutes here and there but he wants more and he needs more.
Ancelotti will have talks with the player this summer. The World Cup and the six competitions that Madrid will play open up the possibility of playing more. But Ceballos has to be in Luis Enrique’s squad for the World Cup.