Real New Boy Said to Regret Choosing Madrid Over Barcelona After Early Lack of Playing Time

Dani Ceballos is already regretting choosing Real Madrid over Barcelona despite only moving to the reigning La Liga champions two months ago.

The claim comes courtesy of notorious Spanish rumourmongers Don Balon, who have reported that the 21-year-old is incredibly unhappy with the amount of game time he has earned so far at Santiago Bernabeu.

Ceballos has featured just three times for Real so far this term - all substitute appearances - to rack up a miserable 31 minutes of action since his £16m switch from Real Betis in July.

It is a far cry from the regular appearances he had hoped for following his transfer, and has reportedly led to Ceballos telling close confidantes that he fears he made the wrong decision in not joining Barcelona instead.

The Catalan giants had been vying with Real for Ceballos' signature during the summer transfer window, but the centre midfielder chose to pen a six-year deal with Zinedine Zidane's men much to the chagrin of La Blaugrana.

Ceballos is believed to have held talks with Zidane and Real president Florentino Perez over being handed more chances to impress, but it appears his queries have fallen on deaf ears judging by Zidane's latest comments.

The France legend spoke ahead of his side's 1-0 defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday and, when quizzed on Ceballos' chances of featuring more often, explained why other midfielders were ahead of him in the pecking order.

Zidane had said: "It's not that I do not see him starting, there are other players who are very good and they do very well. I’m happy, although I do not know when he's going to play. The most important thing is that he trains very well and is in the dynamic. He is doing phenomenally.”

Ceballos is having to contend with the likes of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Casemiro and Mateo Kovacic for a spot in Zidane's starting lineup, and the Spain international may be waiting a long time to get a good run in the team with such talented players ahead of him.