Dani Ceballos played south of 70 minutes in Real Madrid’s recent FIFA Club World Cup campaign and all signs pointed to his departure from the club given a clear lack of prominence under the new manager.

The player, after all, did not have a very big role to play last season despite Carlo Ancelotti’s guarantees and the arrival of a new generation of midfielders in Arda Guler and Franco Mastantuono only added to the competition he was already drowning in.

Given his situation, Ceballos was long seen as a prime candidate to leave Real Madrid this summer with multiple reports linking him back to his boyhood club Real Betis. The situation, however, appears to have taken a drastic turn.

Not for sale

As relayed in a recent update by AS, Ceballos is now seen as indispensable and non-transferable by Real Madrid, marking a new turn in his roller coaster journey at the club.

Despite not having many minutes under Xabi Alonso in his first tournament in charge, the Spanish midfielder has given the board several reasons to see him as key – primarily factors related to position depth and market dynamics.

For starters, Real Madrid feel they lack creative midfielders after the departure of Luka Modric – something Ceballos can bring to the table. Needless to say, that is the primary reason Los Blancos refuse to sell him all of a sudden.

The second reason has more to do with the transfer market and the lack of availability of creative midfielders in general.

After all, not many clubs at this stage of pre-season will be willing to negotiate the departures of players who appeal to Real Madrid as a creative presence given that they will all be pillars of their current team’s projects. 

All factors considered, a sale at this point looks unlikely and Ceballos will stay to feature under Alonso. The prominence he will have and whether he will be a starter, however, remains to be seen.