Real Madrid: Five players Florentino Perez must regret not selling sooner

Dani Ceballos

Dani Ceballos was signed by Real Madrid in the summer of 2017 from Real Betis for a fee of 17 million euros. There were a lot of expectations on a 20-year-old Ceballos, who failed to establish himself as a player who could challenge the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. Zidane preferred others to Ceballos, and the player couldn’t be patient enough to wait for his opportunity.

He played a lot more in 2018/19, but after Zidane’s return, the Spaniard decided to go on loan to Arsenal to gain some valuable experience. Fast forward to today, after two years on loan at Arsenal where he couldn’t do anything special, and after a serious ankle injury he suffered at the Olympics, he finds himself on the sidelines at Real Madrid.

Arsenal were given the opportunity to sign Ceballos for around 30 million euros this summer, but they chose not to invest so much in the Andalusian. Now, Ceballos’ value has fallen further after the ankle injury, with Real Betis looking to spend not more than 20 million. And practically there is no way Ceballos can make it count at Real Madrid, with Kroos, Modric, Valverde, and Camavinga all above him in the pecking order.

In terms of money, Ceballos’ future sale might not really come at a loss for Real Madrid. But it is a loss in terms of the time invested in Ceballos, as Real Madrid have hung onto Ceballos for more than 4 seasons, with the player never having shown solid interest in succeeding at Real Madrid. Florentino Perez would’ve definitely wanted to sell him earlier if he knew this was going to happen to Ceballos.