Dani Ceballos is training for Arsenal again and Mikel Arteta should consider him for Sunday.
Well, the Mikel Arteta era at Arsenal didn’t start with a bang.
The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw away to Bournemouth on Boxing Day as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rescued a point for the North Londoners on Arteta’s coronation game.
It was Arteta’s first game and his second will be dramatically more difficult.
On Sunday, Arsenal welcome Chelsea to the Emirates Stadium and it should, in theory, represent a much tougher 90 minutes than what the Cherries offered.
Mesut Ozil had an encouraging 75 minutes but on the whole it looked like Arteta could do with more sources of creativity from midfield – and could the Spaniard bring Dani Ceballos back for the Blues?
Arsenal confirmed last week that Ceballos had returned to full training following a two-month absence with a hamstring injury.
He won’t be 100 percent, but the only way to attain 100 percent fitness – match fitness – is by playing competitive games and Arteta should consider recalling him on Sunday.
Ceballos cost the North Londoners a £15 million loan fee from Real Madrid this past summer [The Daily Mail] and they haven’t seen all that much of him as of yet.
But he is clearly a fantastic player and if Arteta can get him playing – and keep him fit – then it’s a big boost for the Emirates Stadium side in their top-four bid.
Ozil is a fine talent when he feels like being one, but Arsenal will need more against a Chelsea side that dismantled Tottenham very efficiently last weekend and Ceballos can be that extra spark.
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