• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Dani Ceballos

CEBALLOS BOOST?

Tottenham and Arsenal have been given a boost in their respective pursuits of Dani Ceballos after he was left out of Real Madrid's squad for the forthcoming International Champions Cup tournament in America.

The north London rivals are trying to secure the 22-year-old’s signature, with the Spain U21 international understood to be keen for a loan away from the Bernabeu.
 
https://eplindex.com/83730/profiling-tottenham-transfer-target-dani-ceballos.html

Dani Ceballos is a player that could be lining up for a top-six Premier League team next season following several media reports linking him with a move to England. Sky Sportsreport that Tottenham have entered talks with Real Madrid to sign the talented midfielder. Meanwhile, an earlier report from Marca suggested that Liverpool and Arsenal were both interested in the 22-year-old.

The Tottenham interest makes a lot of sense. Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to add quality and depth to his midfield options this summer, following the arrival of Tanguy Ndombele. Moreover, Christian Eriksen could be on his way out of the football club before the start of the new season. According to the Mirror, his future remains uncertain following his earlier comments that he wants a new challenge. Interestingly, Real Madrid would be his ideal destination, which means that he could feature in the negotiations over Ceballos. The two clubs are known to have a very strong relationship when it comes to transfers, with a number of players moving between the two clubs in recent years.

Ceballos didn’t feature much for Real Madrid last season, totalling 23 appearances in La Liga, albeit only 13 came as a starter. It has been his recent form for the Spanish Under-21 team that has captured the imagination. The midfielder stood out, contributing two goals and two assists as La Roja eventually ran out tournament winners.

In terms of style, Ceballos shows many of the hallmarks expected from a player that has been developed in Spain. He is technically gifted with an excellent passing range. The 22-year-old looks to make a big impact on games and is always looking for possession in central areas. One of his strengths is his close ball control, as he can manoeuvre the ball in tight spaces. He has a strong awareness of his surroundings and is often seen carrying out difficult flicks to benefit his team’s possession play.

The Spaniard would call himself a number eight, as he looks to drop deep to collect possession and play a big role in the attacking transition. Ceballos is a good ball carrier, while also capable of playing long passes to launch an attack. Although it was a small sample size, Ceballos completed 3 shots, 2.8 key passes and 3.8 dribbles per game in the Under-21 European Championships, underlining the impact he can have in attack. His pass success rate of 90.1% shows that he is reliable in the possession and rarely gives the ball away, despite his advanced role.

There aren’t many obvious weaknesses to his game, but there is inconsistency in his performances. This can be attributed to a lack of a defined role at Real Madrid. If he wants to develop into a fully rounded number eight, he will need to make better runs in the final third to add a goal threat to his game. Ceballos is very threatening from range, but he could become more effective around the opposition penalty area.

The success of many Spanish midfielders in the Premier League before him means that a move to England could be the perfect next step for him. Although he will want to stay at the club, a lack of regular starts is a hurdle for him to overcome. The various reports suggest a loan move could be possible and in that sense, a transfer to Tottenham could become a logical solution.

If Real Madrid do make a move for Christian Eriksen, Ceballos is a convenient makeweight to sweeten the deal and he would benefit hugely from the coaching of Pochettino. It would add more tactical options to the squad following the Ndombele signing.

Ceballos is raw, but Premier League clubs are right to be targeting him. He could be the real deal.
 
I don't really get this link to be honest. We now have 4 top CMs. Presumably Ndombele and Winks starting in prime positions, with Sissoko and Dier in rotation. If we get Lo Celso he can also play there, as can Alli.

Ceballos to most observations seems a direct understudy for Winks. I know Winks is the only real ballplayer of our quartet (with Ndombele and Sissoko as line breakers and Dier as a DM).

But for the amount we'd need direct cover for Winks, I would have thought Skipp is just as good an opinion as Ceballos.
 
I don't really get this link to be honest. We now have 4 top CMs. Presumably Ndombele and Winks starting in prime positions, with Sissoko and Dier in rotation. If we get Lo Celso he can also play there, as can Alli.

Ceballos to most observations seems a direct understudy for Winks. I know Winks is the only real ballplayer of our quartet (with Ndombele and Sissoko as line breakers and Dier as a DM).

But for the amount we'd need direct cover for Winks, I would have thought Skipp is just as good an opinion as Ceballos.
If we going into a season thinking that Skipp is a good enough option to cover Winks' position in the team then I think we're going into the season accepting that we are unlikely to be able to win any of the four available trophies. If Ceballos came in then he wouldn't just be 'cover' for Winks, but he would be genuine competition for his place, I think having that proper competition can sometimes lead to improved performances, it also means that Pochettino can properly rotate the players and still challenge for every trophy. Hopefully we will be playing upwards of 55 games this season. That is enough games to sustain a squad where there are two quality players for every position on the pitch IMO.
 
If we going into a season thinking that Skipp is a good enough option to cover Winks' position in the team then I think we're going into the season accepting that we are unlikely to be able to win any of the four available trophies. If Ceballos came in then he wouldn't just be 'cover' for Winks, but he would be genuine competition for his place, I think having that proper competition can sometimes lead to improved performances, it also means that Pochettino can properly rotate the players and still challenge for every trophy. Hopefully we will be playing upwards of 55 games this season. That is enough games to sustain a squad where there are two quality players for every position on the pitch IMO.

But Dier or Sissoko would cover Winks and we'd play a bit differently

Poch is famous for not wanting bloated squads, and five £30m+ rated senior CMs, as well as 2/3 ACMs (depending on Eriksen/Lo Celos) who can cover there very well, seem excessive

I suppose the only thing that could make it fit is if Dier replaces Alder at CB.
 
But Dier or Sissoko would cover Winks and we'd play a bit differently

Poch is famous for not wanting bloated squads, and five £30m+ rated senior CMs, as well as 2/3 ACMs (depending on Eriksen/Lo Celos) who can cover there very well, seem excessive

I suppose the only thing that could make it fit is if Dier replaces Alder at CB.
Wouldn't you rather be able to bring in (or bring on) a player of comparable quality that means we don't have to change the way that we play? If Poch doesn't want bloated squads then he needs to make sure that every player in his squad is of the required quality. Skipp is a promising youngster, but I wouldn't want to be lining up against (say) Juventus in the quarter final of the Champions League or Liverpool in the FA Cup semi final having to play Skipp and Sissoko because (say) NDomble is suspended and Winks is injured. Having Ceballos and Winks to compete for a single spot should allow us to keep both fresh and be confident that our team is still competitive late in the season after a lot of games.
 
4 top CMs? Ndombele yes, assuming he setlles and plays to what we think he is capable of and then we have Winks who is a top prospect but yet to have a season without injury problems - the rest all have question marks hanging over them and are clearly very upgradeable

Cm was probay the weakest area of the squad last season and it would be no surprise to me if Poch would be interested in 2 more alongside Ndombele (Ceballos/Lo Celso)
 
Cebellos one a loan with an option to sign is a great idea. Also need to remember that Sissoko is 30 this summer and with just 2 years left on his deal.

If Ceballos succeeds, then perhaps we sell Sissoko next summer and we have Ceballos, Winks, Dier and NDombele thereafter?
 
4 top CMs? Ndombele yes, assuming he setlles and plays to what we think he is capable of and then we have Winks who is a top prospect but yet to have a season without injury problems - the rest all have question marks hanging over them and are clearly very upgradeable

Cm was probay the weakest area of the squad last season and it would be no surprise to me if Poch would be interested in 2 more alongside Ndombele (Ceballos/Lo Celso)

Odd to call Winks a prospect still - when he's a year older than Ndombele, owned the Bernabeu and been MOTM in a CL final
 
4 top CMs? Ndombele yes, assuming he setlles and plays to what we think he is capable of and then we have Winks who is a top prospect but yet to have a season without injury problems - the rest all have question marks hanging over them and are clearly very upgradeable

Cm was probay the weakest area of the squad last season and it would be no surprise to me if Poch would be interested in 2 more alongside Ndombele (Ceballos/Lo Celso)
I agree more with your evaluation of our players than GB's.

I think his point about this potential signing is somewhat valid though. Poch has shown a certain preference for physical, athletic central midfielders. With Winks already here, and Ndombele being athletic, but not quite man mountain signing Ceballos would mean a marked shift in our midfield options. Particularly if bringing in him and Lo Celso is being considered.
 
I agree more with your evaluation of our players than GB's.

I think his point about this potential signing is somewhat valid though. Poch has shown a certain preference for physical, athletic central midfielders. With Winks already here, and Ndombele being athletic, but not quite man mountain signing Ceballos would mean a marked shift in our midfield options. Particularly if bringing in him and Lo Celso is being considered.

I'm only going by what I have read on various threads here and elsewhere but Ceballos seems to fit the mold of physical, athletic central midfielders as much as I would say Winks does - a stat radar posted in another thread showed him as being proficient in the right areas and a link to a who scored tweet suggests he is 'strong' in tackling, defensive contribution and holding on to the ball - so it sounds like he has the right tools to fit in to a Pochettino side.

Ndombele, Dier, Lo Celso, Ceballos and Sissoko is a good blend of options
 
Last edited:
I'm only going by what I have read on various threads here and elsewhere but Ceballos seems to fit the mold of physical, athletic central midfielders as much as I would say Winks is - a stat radar posted in another thread showed him as being proficient in the right areas and a link to a who scored tweet suggests he is 'strong' in tackling, defensive contribution and holding on to the ball - so it sounds like he has the right tools to fit in to a Pochettino side.

Ndombele, Dier, Lo Celso, Ceballos and Sissoko is good blend of options
For years though Winks has been our least athletic and physical central midfielder. We've signed Wanyama, Dier, Sissoko... Would be quite a shift to spend big in this way. Not that I would be against it.

It would be a good blend, but a change. Unless we switch to a central trio that would mean big money being spent on players that would have to sit on the bench quite a bit. Again, not necessarily against it, but it would be a shift.
 
Currently all three of Wanyama Dier and Sissoko are in our midfield options and 2 at least should remain with Ndombele being added too - a further player 'similar' to Winks being signed doesn't really strike me as much of a shift.

Even if Lo Celso were signed he seems to have enough bite in his game to fit in with our general approach - if he is played further forward, replacing Eriksen, then arguably it would make the side more physical
 
I'm only going by what I have read on various threads here and elsewhere but Ceballos seems to fit the mold of physical, athletic central midfielders as much as I would say Winks does - a stat radar posted in another thread showed him as being proficient in the right areas and a link to a who scored tweet suggests he is 'strong' in tackling, defensive contribution and holding on to the ball - so it sounds like he has the right tools to fit in to a Pochettino side.

Ndombele, Dier, Lo Celso, Ceballos and Sissoko is good blend of options

Sounds good - I think its clear lo celso is coming and then we’ll see if eriksen stays or if he has to be replaced with ceballos or similar.

Although apparently we are deluded for thinking it and we are told its one for one if eriksen leaves or if he stays then its no one at all!
 
Sounds good - I think its clear lo celso is coming and then we’ll see if eriksen stays or if he has to be replaced with ceballos or similar.

Although apparently we are deluded for thinking it and we are told its one for one if eriksen leaves or if he stays then its no one at all!

The talk certainly seemed to indicate Lo Celso was a goer early on but has somewhat quietened lately - I'd only expect to see both he and Ceballos signed if Erilsen leaves tbh
 
Back