In transfer news Dani Ceballos has been linked with a permanent move to Arsenal in the latest update, while talk of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to Tottenham and Everton is heating up.
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Starting in the red half of north London, Dani Ceballos has been linked with a permanent move to Arsenal and the Daily Mirror say that Real Madrid’s financial problems will give the Gunners a big boost of signing the Spanish midfielder.
Per the interview with El Transistor in Spain, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez lamented the current financial situation which has hit the newly-crowned La Liga champions hard.
“The situation is really bad. It’s difficult to ask the players to take a pay cut to help deal with the situation and then make signings like that. That can wait. Madrid will sign the best again when the situation changes. This year has been the most difficult for me. We lost important income from the stadium. We had to talk to the players for them to do their bit. If they hadn’t voluntarily lowered their salaries, the company would have suffered losses. It’s an exceptional situation.”
The report states that Arsenal and Real Madrid continue to be in talks over a permanent deal for Ceballos and Real want around $25 million for the silky midfielder, who has been on loan at the Gunners during the 2019-20 season. It is believed Real will fund new signings by selling fringe players and Ceballos, as talented as he is, isn’t part of Zinedine Zindane’s long-term plans.
Ceballos, 23, has been a key part of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild as he’s been played in a deeper role and has added grit and defensive responsibility to his creativity on the ball. His partnership with Granit Xhaka has added an extra level of stability to Arsenal and Arteta has said many times he wants to keep Ceballos at the Emirates.
Switching to the other half of north London, Tottenham have been urged to make a better offer for Southampton and Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Hojbjerg, 24, has reportedly been the target of a $31.4 million bid from Everton and Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl wants Spurs to up their bid if they really want the combative midfielder.
With one year left on his contract, Hojbjerg doesn’t want to sign a new deal at Saints and was stripped of the captaincy during the coronavirus pandemic.
“About his future, he knows that there is some interest and hopefully, yeah, a club that wants him really shows that they want him. If not, he stays with us,” Hasenhuttl said.
It is believed Saints want closer to $45 million for Hojbjerg and given that Tottenham right back Kyle Walker-Peters is currently on loan at Saints, he could be used in a deal.
Jose Mourinho wants Hojbjerg and the Danish midfielder is said to want a move to Tottenham over Everton, as both teams needs extra bite and drive in central midfield and he will certainly provide that.
