Real Madrid midfielder to be targeted in January transfer window following summer exit talk

Real Betis have been making overtures at Dani Ceballos for years at this point, and it looked at one point as if they might finally be successful this summer, but their bid did not meet Real Madrid’s valuation of him. Ceballos was reportedly keen to return to his first club this time though, and Betis will try again.

Los Verdiblancos will come back in for Ceballos in January, say MD, as they try to address the absence of William Carvalho for the rest of the season, with Isco also suffering from injury issues. While Nabil Fekir was replaced by Giovani Lo Celso in some regard.

Meanwhile Betis also want to look at bringing in a central defender and a right-winger in January too. Rodri Sanchez exited the club after the transfer deadline, moving to Al-Arabi for €8m, meaning Manuel Pellegrini would like a replacement.

Brazilian centre-back Vitao was heavily linked with Betis over the summer, and he is on the table as a potential recruit too. Their method of funding these investments will be to look at the exits of Chimy Avila, just a year on from signing him, Assane Diao, who has been linked with a move to RB Leipzig an England, or Juanmi, who has had a rocky relationship with Pellegrini.

Certainly more so than in recent years, Betis have felt short of firepower, and while Ceballos is not that, he would provide Pellegrini with a jump in quality from Marc Roca, Sergi Altimira and Johnny Cardoso in deeper roles. All the same, Ceballos still has plenty of time left on his Real Madrid deal, and previous demands have ranged between €15-20m, which seems likely out of Betis’ reach.

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