With one week left until the summer transfer window closes, Dani Ceballos seems to have announced his departure from Real Madrid after the match against Real Oviedo (3-0). Through his Instagram account, the Andalusian published a photo taken during the minutes played against the 'carbayones' with the phrase "last dance".
The 29-year-old midfielder would have officially announced that, after eight years at the 'Casa Blanca', since his arrival in the 2017/2018 season, he would have played his last game wearing the 'merengue' shirt in Asturias. With this, the Andalusian has made 194 appearances with the first team.
Ceballos says goodbye to Real Madrid, is he signing for Marseille?
According to the latest information, Ceballos is already in advanced negotiations with Olympique de Marseille. In principle, there is still no agreement between clubs, but the figures being discussed range from 10 to 15 million euros for his transfer.
There is also talk of a possibility of a loan with a mandatory purchase option next summer, according to Fabrizio Romano. The Utrera midfielder has a contract until 2027 and, although Xabi Alonso is counting on him, the '19' knows he is a substitute behind Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga (when he returns from his injury).
In that sense, the departure of Dani Ceballos would represent a loss of important options for Xabi Alonso, since despite having Tchouaméni, Valverde, Güler, Bellingham and Camavinga, the latter two are injured.
The season is also very long, so a sector that is occupied by three players regularly needs more than two natural substitutes, which is what Madrid would have after the recovery of Camavinga and Bellingham.
As things stand, everything seems to indicate that the Real Madrid coach will have to use the youth team to rebuild his 'puzzle' in midfield, an area of the field where the Whites had serious problems with injuries in 24/25. Ceballos had earned a starting place at the beginning of the year, but two muscular setbacks undermined his performance.
Marseille, a new opportunity for Ceballos
The player who was once a Spanish international was coming off a season in which he was taken into account by Carlo Ancelotti after the retirement of Toni Kroos, in which he played 40 games and saw action for a total of 1,986 minutes, in which he would only manage to provide two assists, without scoring goals.
Since the arrival of Xabi Alonso, the player was again relegated to a secondary role, because of the four games he played in the Club World Cup he only played 70 minutes and, in the last two LaLiga games, he came on at the end against Osasuna and Oviedo.
Now everything indicates that Ceballos will have a second adventure outside of Spain after his time with the English Arsenal in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 season (he played 77 games, with 2 goals and 6 assists), but this time in France with 'les olympiens'.
The veteran midfielder could get a new opportunity to display his football in Marseille and become relevant to the local and European aspirations of the French club. Will Dani be a protagonist in Ligue 1?