Transfer News: Barcelona aim to hijack Real Madrid deal for Dani Ceballos

Barcelona are reportedly aiming to beat arch-rivals Real Madrid to the signature of highly-rated Real Betis star Dani Ceballos in the summer.

Spanish publication Marca are claiming that Real Madrid will have to intensify their pursuit of Real Betis star Dani Ceballos to avoid a hijack of their deal. Barcelona have shockingly entered the race for the highly-rated Spanish Under-21 international.

Dani Ceballos is one of the very highly-rated emerging youngsters in Spain. The player has emerged from the Real Betis youth setup to become a household name in the first-team. While the midfielder’s return – 2 goals and 2 assists in 30 La Liga appearances – does leave a bit more to be desired, his displays have earned plaudits from many.

Real Madrid already have future Spanish superstars – players who are being touted as the future of Spanish football – in the form of Marco Asensio and Marcos Llorente. Los Blancos, though, have been eyeing a deal for Ceballos as well.

Zinedine Zidane is keen to bring Ceballos over to the Santiago Bernabeu and mould him in the coming years to become a regular in the middle of the park in his side. The manager is keen to build a squad for the future as well and Ceballos is being eyed as an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

The player is also reportedly close to the move, with Ceballos stating that his future will be sorted after the end of the European Under-21 Championship, which has now concluded as Spain lost 1-0 to Germany in the finals, a competition he ended as the top scorer. However, Barcelona may throw a wrench in Real’s plans.

The Catalans themselves are looking to bolster their options and Ernesto Valverde is eyeing a move for the Real Betis midfielder, having submitted an enquiry for the player. It is reported that Barcelona will attempt to entice the player with a better chance of first-team football at the cub at the present moment, compared to Real.

However, the player’s controversial past may be something that may come in between his move to either of the top clubs. Ceballos had earlier aired some interesting opinion of his own towards Barcelona and its players on his twitter handle.

The messages have been recently deleted, raising speculation that the player is preparing for a move to Real Madrid. However, the deleted messages could envisage a move to Nou Camp as well. For now, though, Ceballos seems primed for Real.

And, if anything, Barcelona’s interest will only see Real moving even quicker to land the player, who is making the right kind of noises in La Liga at the moment.