Emery discusses Ceballos as Arsenal close on Liverpool, Spurs target
Arsenal manager Unai Emery is refusing to rule out a move for Dani Ceballos amid claims the Gunners are close to securing the signature of the Liverpool and Tottenham midfield target.
With a deal for exciting Brazilian forward Everton Soares also within Arsenal’s sights – the clubs are said to have agreed a €40m fee – the Gunners are believed to have turned their attentions towards further strengthening their side.
As such, reports in Spain claim Arsenal are poised to secure the signing of Spain Under-21 midfielder Ceballos from Real Madrid and from under the noses of both Liverpool and Spurs, who have also been tracking the Real Madrid star.
Ceballos is keen to secure regular playing time next season and knows a temporary move to Premier League could help him secure his aim of breaking into the Spain squad ahead of Euro 2020.
And when asked about the rumours surrounding Ceballos on Arsenal’s pre-season tour, Emery said: “I don’t want to speak about the names but Ceballos is a very good player.”
The Gunners reportedly only have a limited budget of around £45m to spend this summer, but that has not stopped Emery from informing the Arsenal board about the need to bring in “three or four quality signings”.
They did sign teenager Gabriel Martinelli for a fee of £6m, but deals for William Saliba and Kieran Tierney are yet to get over the line, while efforts to sign Wilfried Zaha look unlikely to come to fruition.
Speaking ahead of their friendly against Bayern Munich, Emery claimed: “Our target is to get three or four players who really improve our squad.
“We are being very demanding about the possibility to sign very expensive players.
“We have very good young players who can progress but we need others to come here to help us.
“We are having a lot of meetings with the club, with Edu and also with Josh and Stan Kroenke in Denver.
“We have a clear idea and that is to sign the players in the positions we need who can help us with big performances.
“We start with our first target and if we cannot achieve that we move on to the second target. But every time it is someone who will improve the squad.”
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