Real Madrid Midfielder Dani Ceballos Refutes Claim That He Is Unhappy in the Spanish Capital

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90 Min
Publish date:
Jan 20, 2018

Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos has hit back at suggestions from former manager Quique Setien that he is unhappy at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The 21-year-old has only made six La Liga appearances for Los Blancos, fuelling speculation that he may be disgruntled with his lack of game time.

As reported by Marca, the Spanish Under-21 international took to social media to reject the allegations, posting a picture that simply stated "I am happy."

The attacking midfielder moved to the La Liga champions from Real Betis in the summer, joining on a six-year deal for a reported €18m fee.

He has struggled to command a regular place in Zinedine Zidane's side though, prompting Betis boss Setien to question Ceballos' happiness; "Sometimes you make decisions at 21 years of age that aren't the best," the 58-year old head coach said.

"With Ceballos I'm seeing a case in which he was excited by Real Madrid, but now you see his face and it is a sad face. I'm sure he has forgotten about money, because what he wants is to play and to grow."

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Setien is known to be an admirer of Ceballos' talents, and has expressed an interest in bringing him back to Benito Villamarin on loan, should Real be willing to discuss a deal.

“Before he went in the summer, I said to him [Ceballos] that I thought it was brilliant that he was signing for Real Madrid, it represents a big growth in his status. But he knew the difficulties he was going to face," Setien said in a separate interview, as quoted by AS.

"At the time I tried to convince him to stay for this year and help us, and that’s the same feeling that I have now.”