Dani Ceballos has reportedly snubbed a possible return to Arsenal and has instead told Real Madrid that he wants to join Real Betis.
He spent last campaign on loan at the Emirates and ended the season in good form as he formed a solid partnership with Granit Xhaka in midfield.
Mikel Arteta has already made it clear that he wants the 24-year-old midfielder to remain at Arsenal.
But, reports in Spain this month claimed that Real Madrid want to keep Ceballos for their pre-season in order to offer the player an opportunity to convince Zidane that he deserves a role in the first-team.
Arsenal had hoped to sign Ceballos on a season-long loan ahead of the new campaign but Mundo Deportivo claim the Spaniard has now told Madrid that he wants to return to Real Betis.
According to reports, Ceballos is aware that his chances of playing in Madrid’s first-team are slim and he has instructed the club that he would prefer to play for Real Betis to gain regular football.
The midfielder signed for Betis at the age of 15 in 2011 and went on to play 105 matches for the club before he was signed by Madrid in 2017.
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Ceballos has also said that Real Betis kept in contact with him throughout his time at Arsenal last campaign.
When asked about Ceballos’ future on Thursday, Arteta said: ‘Well, we have some talks and Dani knows really well what I think about him.
‘He was pretty clear with me as well that his intention was to remain with us but obviously Real Madrid is involved and I don’t know yet what they want to do with the player.
‘But he’s a player that we are interested in because we really saw, in the last few months of the season, what he is capable of bringing to us.’
