Hit or miss? Assessment of Dani Ceballos’ Arsenal spell so far

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Arsenal managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign Dani Ceballos this summer.

The Gunners strengthened their midfield by landing the creative Spaniard on loan from Real Madrid (BBC Sport), a move that delighted supporters at the time.

With the second international break of the season in full swing, perhaps now is a good time to assess how he’s fared at the Emirates Stadium.

Background

Arsenal knew that Ceballos had been deemed surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu by Zinedine Zidane.

The 23-year-old made 34 appearances in all competitions, but he struggled to dislodge the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro to become a regular starter, with a lot of his appearances coming from off the bench.

The Gunners managed to fend off rivals Tottenham (who were also interested according to Sky Sports) to land Ceballos, who appears to have assumed the role of chief creator at the club with Mesut Ozil seemingly in the wilderness and Aaron Ramsey having departed for Juventus.

How’s he looked so far?

Ceballos is clearly another gifted Spanish footballer, who Arsenal have been no strangers to down the years.

Like Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla before him, Ceballos has demonstrated impressive technical ability and appears to be the most likely to pick the lock of an opposition defence.

His full debut against Burnley in August was sublime, but he is yet to produce another display to that standard.

Verdict

He hasn’t started every possible game, but Ceballos is still a hit and is going to be a key player for the Gunners this year.

He’s only contributed one goal and two assists so far, but with quality players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyng and Alexandre Lacazette ahead of him, that assist tally in particular should rise.

Should the Ozil situation continue as it is, then he is bound to become a vital member of the starting XI.