Tim Sherwood has labelled Arsenal loanee Dani Ceballos as ‘average’ and predicted that he’ll get found out in the Premier League this season.
The Real Madrid-owned midfielder has returned to Arsenal on a second-successive loan.
Ceballos moved to North London last summer but struggled with form and fitness for the first half of the 2019-20 campaign.
In fact, the Spaniard even struggled to break into Mikel Arteta’s first XI when the club’s former midfielder replaced Unai Emery as head coach in December.
But the 24-year-old was a massive player for Arsenal from June onwards, scoring a last-minute winner in an FA Cup quarter-final over Sheffield United, while orchestrating a Premier League win over Liverpool.
That being said, former Tottenham boss Sherwood isn’t a fan at all, telling The Kelly & Wrighty show that he’s ‘too weak’ for England’s top flight.
He said: “Ceballos in my opinion is average. I think he’s too weak for the Premier League and I think he’ll get found out this year. I think they need a little bit more guile in there. You need a player in there like Mesut Ozil in that middle of the pitch.”
Is Sherwood making sense? Well, no. Not at all.
That’s because Ceballos was arguably Arsenal’s best player in their FA Cup final win over Chelsea last month.
Even if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both goals, Ceballos had a claim for Man of the Match and we’re talking about Chelsea, in a cup final at Wembley.
If he can dominate a game like that, he isn’t ‘average’ or ‘too weak’ for English football – not by a long shot.
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