Liverpool Enter the Fray for Real Madrid's Dani Ceballos as Reds Open Talks With His Agent

Liverpool have reportedly held discussions with the representatives of Real Madrid central midfielder Dani Ceballos as he looks for the exit door at the Bernabeu in search of regular first team football.

The 21-year-old joined Real Madrid in the summer after starring for Real Betis, capping his impressive season with the Player of the Tournament award at the U21 European Championships, where Spain finished runners-up behind Germany.  

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The highly-rated midfielder chose to sign for Madrid over arch rivals Barcelona in the summer, but it has been revealed that club president Florentino Perez only signed Ceballos to boost the Spanish contingent in the squad, with manager Zinedine Zidane not overly keen on utilising him.

According to Diario Gol, Ceballos is now aware of the reasons he was brought to the club and is ready to take his football elsewhere to continue growing, with Los Blancos granting permission for the 21-year-old's representatives to enter discussions with other clubs.

It is understood that the club are not keen for Ceballos to leave the club in January and would instead prefer a loan move to be agreed over the summer as Madrid are still of the belief that the midfielder will one day become a success.

The 21-year-old has been likened to teammate Luka Modric as he has the ability to run games from the middle of the park with his supreme passing and dribbling, but still requires a lot of time to develop into the player many expect him to become. 

After being on the periphery of Zindane's plans, Ceballos has featured just 10 times for Real Madrid this season - with just two starts - but has attracted interest from Liverpool, Inter and Arsenal.