Obviously finances and playing time are big factors for a player when they make a decision over a transfer, but they’re just like the rest of us when they want a boss they like and some friendly faces in the changing room too.
Dani Ceballos has finally been presented by Arsenal as a loan signing from Real Madrid, so it will be exciting to see what he can do in the Premier League after he showed how good he can be when he was on loan at Real Sociedad.
It appears that there were two key factors in him making the decision to move to Arsenal – Mikel Arteta and Dani Ceballos.
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Obviously the manager is the main one and there’s a feeling that he lost some faith in Zidane after his treatment at Real this season, so it’s a positive sign for Arsenal that Arteta has the ability to persuade quality players to come to the club.
Arsenal always posted an interview on their website with the new signing, and it appears that Dani Ceballos also played a role in helping to sell this move to his Real Madrid colleague:
“Yes, [Dani] text me the other day and he had only good things to say about the club, the manager and everything.
“That was also important for me and he was happy for me to come here, so that was a good thing for me, to know someone here and to hear from someone inside the club as well. It’s good.”
Ceballos has lived through a similar situation in Madrid where he’s a talented player who didn’t get a fair chance to prove himself under Zidane, so hopefully they combine well on the pitch for Arsenal to show Real what they’re missing.