Real Madrid have already announced the exit of Dani Ceballos this summer, after another year spent mostly warming the bench. There was always a chance that Los Blancos would be seeing him again in La Liga, but he may well be staying much closer to home than expected.
Ceballos, 29, and Real Madrid reached an agreement last month to terminate his contract with a year remaining on it. That allows him to leave the club as a free agent, and seek a new club. He was heavily linked with Ajax, but it appears that negotiation is still yet to come to fruition. His boyhood club, Real Betis, have been perennially linked with Ceballos, but that has been the case for the last three seasons.
Atletico Madrid enquire about Ceballos with agents
According to TeleMadrid and MD, Atletico Madrid are one of the sides that have shown a surpise interest in him. There were some links between Ceballos and Atletico during this season, but they seemed to dissipate relatively quickly. It remains to be seen whether he would be open to the move.
Is signing Ceballos a smart move for Atletico Madrid?
Certainly Atletico have been short of midfielders comfortable on the ball in tight spaces, and capable of improving the team’s build-up. It was for that reason that captain Koke Resurreccion saw so much action this season, becoming one of Diego Simeone’s most used players again, albeit injuries to Johnny Cardoso and Pablo Barrios also forced his hand.
Out of the names mentioned, Ceballos probably has the most similarities with Koke in terms of his ability on the ball. Whether Ceballos is willing to do the defensive work Simeone demands of his players is another matter. Although a bargain on a free, it would be something of a surprise to see Ceballos at Atletico.
