Ceballos: Training-ground clash with David Luiz proves Arsenal are ´alive´

Dani Ceballos put his training-ground clash with Arsenal team-mate David Luiz down to “similar leadership qualities”, believing the incident can have a positive impact on the squad.

The Athletic reported last week that Ceballos, who clashed with Eddie Nketiah in the warm-up before the Gunners’ win at Fulham in September, and David Luiz had been involved in an incident during training.

Mikel Arteta subsequently confirmed the issue had been dealt with and that there was no problem between the pair, though Arsenal’s manager insisted he would be punishing whoever leaked the information to the media.

Ceballos – who is spending his second successive season on loan from Real Madrid after impressing in his first campaign – says that the run-in with his team-mate proves Arsenal’s squad has the fighting spirit needed at the top level.

“I’m not going to say that there wasn’t a clash or a scuffle,” Ceballos told The Sun.

“It was not an exemplary behaviour but it is good to see Arsenal is alive – that the team has character.

“We are two footballers with very similar leadership qualities and these things can happen. We didn’t let a single day go by. We spoke that same afternoon after training.

“Now we have to learn so it does not happen again.”

happy for my 50 appearances with this shirt and for the magnificent victory today . feliz por mis 50 apariciones con esta camiseta y por la magnífica victoria de hoy pic.twitter.com/aUMydTx7rO

— Daniel Ceballos (@DaniCeballos46) November 26, 2020

Arsenal have had an indifferent start to the season, with defensive resilience seemingly coming at the cost of their attacking output.

The Gunners, who face Wolves on Sunday, have managed just nine goals from as many league games, with only 30 attempts on target.

Their tally of 64 efforts in total is the joint fifth lowest in the league, but Ceballos has no doubt Arsenal are on the right track under Arteta.

“The team was almost dead, but after Arteta’s arrival we won the FA Cup and the Community Shield,” Ceballos added. “It’s not even a year since he arrived and he has given a radical change to the club.

“He’s the soul of the club and he’s lucky that the players trust him 100 per cent. Arsenal need him, in part because he takes the initiative most of the time.

“Arsenal have to fight to be in the top four. But before there were five teams fighting to get into the Champions League, now there are six or seven.

“You just have to look at Manchester City, one of the best teams in England, or Manchester United. They are not up at the top of the table.

“Southampton and Aston Villa, who last year struggled not to be relegated, have surprised everyone. It is a tremendously competitive league, anyone can beat anyone. But our moment will come.”