Transfer Centre

Real Madrid 'consider keeping Dani Ceballos as Paul Pogba alternative'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 15 July 2019

Real Madrid are reportedly considering keeping Dani Ceballos at the club this summer as an alternative to spending £150m on Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.

Real Madrid are reportedly considering keeping Dani Ceballos at the club as an alternative to signing Paul Pogba from Manchester United this summer.

Pogba is Madrid's number one remaining transfer target during the current window, but United's £150m asking price is proving to be a problem for the Spanish giants.

Madrid have already spent more than £300m on new players this summer and would need to offload a number of current squad members to fund a move for the Frenchman.

Ceballos is one of those to have been linked with an exit, but Marca reports that Florentino Perez is now considering the prospect of keeping the Spaniard at the club rather than signing anyone else.

Perez is understood to have been dismayed by the lack of affordable replacements for Ceballos, raising the possibility of him staying at the Bernabeu.

One potential issue with those plans is Ceballos's relationship with manager Zinedine Zidane, who is known to be a big admirer of Pogba whereas Ceballos has struggled to win him over.

Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and AC Milan have all been linked with moves for the 22-year-old, who joined Madrid from Betis in 2017.