Aston Villa are considering tabling an offer to sign a new central midfielder according to a fresh report, and he already has an existing connection to Unai Emery.
Aston Villa midfield could be weakened by Luiz exit
NSWE and Monchi have Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Tim Iroegbunam as their options in central midfield as it stands, but there’s a chance that two of those could be set to depart at some stage next year.
Arsenal are long-term admirers of Luiz and have reportedly made him their number one target ahead of the upcoming window, whilst Tielemans has fallen significantly out of favour under the manager since joining over the summer, having made zero starts so far this season in the Premier League (WhoScored – Tielemans statistics).
The Midlands outfit will therefore have to enter the market to search for replacements should they lose one or both of the pair, and it appear that chiefs have set their sights on Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos, who has made 124 appearances for Carlo Ancelotti’s side since joining from Real Betis back in 2017 (Transfermarkt – Ceballos statistics).
From 2019 until 2021, Spain’s international joined Arsenal on loan for two seasons, so he has been managed by Emery when he was in the dugout at the Emirates Stadium, and if the following update is to be believed, the 27-year-old could be about to create a reunion with his former boss, only this time at Villa Park.
Aston Villa plotting swoop for Dani Ceballos
According to Spanish reports (via CaughtOffside), Aston Villa are ready to move for Ceballos. The Villans are “willing to submit an offer” of approximately €30m (£26m) to secure their target’s services because they are “determined” to sign him in January.
The Real Madrid star is “expected to leave” the Bernabeu Stadium in the coming months as he seeks more regular game time, so with the positive relationship between the player and Emery, this could be a situation to watch in the near future.
Ceballos is a "genius" for Real Madrid
Despite being a box-to-box midfielder, Ceballos is stronger in the offensive aspect of his game having posted 41 contributions (26 assists and 15 goals) since the start of his career, and he constantly poses a threat to the opposition’s defence even if the end product doesn’t always come to fruition.
Sponsored by Nike, Utrera’s native ranks in the 99th percentile for successful take-ons by midfielders which shows that he loves to use his pace and guile to dribble past his marker and create chances for both himself and his teammates in the final third (FBRef – Ceballos statistics).
Likes to shoot from distance
Likes to tackle
Gets fouled often (Data via WhoScored)
Additionally, Ancelotti’s “genius”, as hailed by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, is extremely calm and composed in possession, as he’s currently recording a 94.6% pass success rate in La Liga, so his ability to control the game when on the ball will be yet another attractive attribute to Emery and Aston Villa.