Arsenal: Dani Ceballos can still shine, if Mikel Arteta lets him

Dani Ceballos made his first appearance under Mikel Arteta on Monday night. In a brief 20 minutes, he immediately displayed his talent. The on-loan Arsenal midfielder can still shine, if he is given the opportunity to.

Dani Ceballos made his first appearance under Arsenal head coach  Mikel Arteta on Monday night. After struggling with a hamstring injury that he suffered in December, the midfielder had not been available throughout Arteta’s tenure until this week.

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Amid reports that the on-loan Real Madrid star was considering a departure from north London as he looks for more playing time to earn a role in Spain’s national team squad before the summer’s European Championships, Arteta was asked what his compatriot must do to reclaim a starting role at the club.

His response was somewhat curt, to say the least:

“He needs to get back to fitness and fight for his place like any other team. After that we will make the selection that I think is fair with what I see on the pitch.”

It was a challenge to Ceballos. Arteta, who has said to all of his players that they would be given a clean slate to prove themselves, was simply echoing that same message with the 23-year-old. ‘You must prove that you are worth playing before I will play you’, is the very clear message from the Arsenal head coach.

But in his 21-minute cameo against Bournemouth, introduced for Nicolas Pepe midway through the second half, Ceballos displayed his ability to provide creative moments that few others in the squad can replicate.

His passing was exemplary in his brief outing. He played two slicing through passes inside the Bournemouth full-back and in behind the defence to feed Bukayo Saka that illustrated the quality of his technique and vision in his distribution. He spun past a couple of defenders, pressed hard, as he always does, and helped link up the play when building out from the back.

There was one moment when Ceballos drifted forwards and to the right, a natural consequence of his free, floating approach to the midfield position, and Arteta immediately bellowed at him from the sidelines, demanding that he returned to the space on the pitch that is demanded. Arteta required extreme discipline and execution, something that Ceballos has not been able to supply just yet.

But in those brief moments, the passes, the slaloming dribbles, the smoothed passing, lending the ball to others before progressing play into advanced areas, Ceballos displayed his ability, something that Arteta would be wise to make the most of during the remainder of the season. Ceballos certainly had more impact on the match than Mesut Ozil has in recent outings.

Ceballos may still return to Madrid and find another place to play. He might have given up on his time in north London. But he can still shine. His quality is outrageous. He just needs Arteta to let him loose and play him regularly.