On Tuesday 12 May, there were two Arsenal headlines that caught our attention…

1. Dani Ceballos won’t be signed permanently

The first rumour to come out of today involves Dani Ceballos, the Spanish loanee who has been playing for Arsenal, but represents Real Madrid. The Spaniard has received mixed reviews and having worked under Mikel Arteta, it didn’t look like his inconsistency had improved in any way.

This is why it should come as no surprise that, according to a report from El Confidencial, Arsenal will not try to sign him permanently from Real Madrid this summer. Whether this is a tactical or financial decision remains to be seen but I can only assume it’s both.

Ceballos was struggling for gametime and he would never be signed for a cheap fee, given how highly Zinedine Zidane rates him. That said, Ceballos is bound to be in for a great future but unfortunately it won’t be at Arsenal, the decision which can only be respected given the climate of this summer’s transfer window. Although, club officials will try to keep the Spaniard in North London for the remainder of the Premier League season, whatever this entails.

2. Mesut Ozil will remain at Arsenal until his contract expires

I suppose Arsenal won’t feel the blow of losing Dani Ceballos too heavily as it’s been revealed that Mesut Ozil will remain a Gunner next season. This is what a report from Football London suggests, anyway.

It comes after the German playmaker received heavy interest from Fenerbahce, who were thought to be in the race for Ozil and not for the first time. However, his agent has spoke out to say that his contract has not changed and he suspects his client will honour his contract.

Obviously, this places implications on the club because they are presented two options; they either tie him down to a new contract, which is not ideal given his wage and age. Or, they lose him for free next summer which, again, isn’t ideal since they would rather make money from him.

Cover image: Amir Hosseini, 2019