Arsenal in Dani Ceballos transfer fight to keep Real Madrid midfielder from AC Milan and Valencia’s clutches next season
ARSENAL face competition from AC Milan and Valencia for Dani Ceballos after boss Mikel Arteta admitted he is in talks to keep the Real Madrid loanee.
Arteta is "really happy" with Ceballos after the Spain playmaker turned round a muted start to his first season in the Premier League.
But claim a growing list of rivals, including Real Betis, are also keen on borrowing the 23-year-old next term.
Ceballos is chasing a Euro 2021 spot and fears he would be out of favour if he returned to parent club Real under Zinedine Zidane.
But Arsenal's chances of retaining the former Betis star could be weakened by their likely failure to qualify for the Champions League.
The Gunners sit five points adrift of the top four with just four games left.
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Nonetheless, Arteta said this week: “Yeah, we are talking to the club. The clubs will need to have a communication and see what we can do.
“I’m really happy with him, the way he’s evolving, and I love how much he likes to play football.
"The passion he puts into every training session and every game, you just have to see his celebrations.
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“I think he’s evolving in the right way and he’s becoming a really important player for us.
"I think it's something that the club has to go a little bit further with Real Madrid on.
“At the moment he is playing really well, I am happy with him. He's a player with big talent."