Real Madrid officially announced the signing of Dani Ceballos on Friday for €16.5M. The midfielder signed a six-year contract with Los Blancos and will be unveiled on the 20th of July, one day before travelling to the United States to join the rest of the team. Now we have to ask ourselves, is it a good signing? Will he be successful at Real Madrid? Does he have space in the team?
Dani Ceballos is only 20 years old but he made his debut in La Liga in the season in 2014. However, in the last two season, when Betis were promoted, he played an important role in the team, especially in the last stage with Víctor Sánchez del Amo on the bench. He played 30 games last season, scoring 2 goals.
For this reason and after a superb U-21 European Championship, Real Madrid decided to sign him. At the beginning, it was thought that Los Blancos could give him on loan one year at Betis, so he gains experience, but Barcelona’s threat to steal the player convince Real Madrid bosses to bring to the Spanish capital as soon as possible.
However, we have our doubts that there is space for him. James Rodríguez left the club and join Bayern Munich, leaving some space in the midfield, but Dani Ceballos plays more as a midfielder, in Kroos or Modric positions. Taking in consideration that these players are still untouchable, he’ll have to fight with Kovacic, Marcos Llorente or even Isco for a spot in the line-up.
Mateo Kovacic is only 23 years old and he’s shown in these two seasons that he’s very reliable. He replaced Casemiro successfully and he can played in a more offensive role as well. Besides, Marcos Llorente came back after a great season on loan at Alavés and he’s expected to be Casemiro’s replacement. Therefore, Kovacic would fight directly with Ceballos for a place in the line-up.
It would be a mistake letting go Kovacic, even if the Croatian footballer receives many offers from Italy. Zinedine Zidane should rely on him and give him many minutes, so he can continue developing his skills at Real Madrid. For this reason, we aren’t sure if Ceballos would have the space to play with Los Blancos.
Four years ago, in 2013, we saw how Los Blancos signed Asier Illarramendi for €30M from Real Sociedad. Only two years later he left the club because of his poor performances. Hopefully we are wrong, but there are similarities between these two players. Do you think Dani Ceballos is a good signing? Will he succeed at Real Madrid?
