Real Madrid appear to have secured the signing of Real Betis starlet Dani Ceballos for a fee in the region of 18 million euros.
Just like Theo Hernandez’s capture from Atletico Madrid, Los Blancos are to pay a few million euros over the stipulated release clause in the player’s contract to ensure a smooth sale, which amounts to 15m euros in Ceballos’ case.
Sunday morning saw the final details ironed out and Real will announce the deal on Monday ahead of a medical and the midfielder putting pen to paper on a six-year contract.
On July 20, Ceballos is scheduled to fly out to San Francisco alongside Spain Under-21 teammates Jesus Vallejo, Marco Asensio and Marcos Llorente to join up with Zinedine Zidane and the Madrid squad on their pre-season tour.
The deal means that the coach’s midfield will be more than fully stocked ahead of the new season – Llorente is also a new face after a loan spell at Alaves – and the man left out may be James Rodriguez as the Colombian looks elsewhere for first-team football.
Failing that, Lucas Vazquez and Mateo Kovacic have proposals from Roma and across Italy, respectively, should they become more serious in their demand for greater game time.
Furthermore, Ceballos’ move to Real means Barcelona are once again left to seek alternatives in the transfer market having seemingly failed in their pursuits of Marco Verratti and Hector Bellerin.
