West Ham United reportedly want to bring Dani Ceballos to the Premier League after another difficult La Liga season with Real Madrid.
Dani Ceballos is one of the most enigmatic figures in Spanish football.
The little midfielder is undoubtedly talented, one of the most promising young footballers in the country, but has still spent the last two years warming the bench.
Ceballos would have known that first-team minutes would be few and far between when he left boyhood club Real Betis for a Real Madrid side already boasting the world renowned talents of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
But he surely hoped to have started more than 16 La Liga games in two seasons.
According to the Mirror, Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has now ruled that the 22-year-old is surplus to requirements with Los Blancos making him available for £18 million. This has apparently caught the eye of West Ham United, whose director of football Mario Husillos is a huge fan.
But instead of worrying about his lack of starts at the Bernabau, West Ham fans should take heed of Luis Enrique’s comments on a player who has already become a staple of his new-look Spanish national team.
“I saw Dani Ceballos countless times with Spain’s Under-21s and he did the same on his debut with them as he did with us, a different player,” the former Barcelona boss told ESPN after Ceballos starred in a 6-0 Nations League thrashing of Croatia.
“He’s special, there aren’t many like that.”
The question now is whether Ceballos is ready to give up on his Real Madrid dream and join a club stuck in the mid-table no-man’s land of the Premier League.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
