Dani Ceballos was instrumental during Arsenal’s 1-0 win over West Ham United.
Former West Ham United defender Matthew Upson believes Dani Ceballos is giving his all for Mikel Arteta and fits into the Arsenal manager’s playing style, the BBC report.
The Gunners secured a tight 1-0 victory over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium.
Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal of the game, finishing from Mesut Ozil’s knockdown despite fears it could have been ruled out by VAR for offside.
But Upson singled out Ceballos as Arsenal’s best performer.
“Dani Ceballos is probably the one Arsenal player on the pitch who is trying to inject some energy into the game. Since Arteta has come in, it’s as if he has singled him out as a player and thought ‘I know I can get more from him, he is going to fit into my playing style’ and he really looks as if he is giving his all for the manager,” Upson explained.
Ceballos, 23, is predominantly an attacking player but against West Ham he featured largely in a deeper role, dictating play alongside Granit Xhaka.
The Spaniard took 121 touches and posted an 87.8% pass-accuracy rate. Defensively, he produced an impressive five tackles and six interceptions (Whoscored).
Ceballos arrived from Real Madrid on a season-long loan last summer. The £15 million-rated player (Goal) is showing signs of becoming a key player during Arsenal’s run-in.
Mikel Arteta likes his team to dominate possession and Ceballos has the attributes to make the Gunners tick.
Victory moves Arsenal to within five points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
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