Serie A giants enquire about availability of 29-year-old Real Madrid midfielder | OneFootball

Of all the departments in Real Madrid’s squad, the midfield is perhaps the single-most stacked in terms of depth, for the manager has a goldmine of resources to pick from. 

The return of Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga has left the well-established duo in a fight for minutes, especially after the rise of Arda Guler and the prominence of Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni.

One of the losers of the entire situation, needless to say, is Dani Ceballos.

While the manager has done well to give the veteran some minutes in the opening spell of the season, that looks increasingly difficult with the injured stars now back.

Napoli’s interest

As relayed by Sky Sports (h/t The Madrid Zone) in a recent update, Serie A giants Napoli have approached Real Madrid enquiring about Ceballos as they eye him as an emergency replacement for Kevin de Bruyne.

The Italian side’s star midfielder suffered a serious rupture of his biceps femoris muscle in the team’s recent game against Inter Milan.

Quite bizarrely, he sustained his injury while taking a penalty kick.

Napoli are interested in Dani Ceballos. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Unlike what was initially expected, the player is thus expected to be out for several months and his injury is a long-term one.

With their creativity in the middle of the park now taking a devastating blow, Antonio Conte’s side now sees Ceballos as a good replacement.

Losing prominence at Real Madrid

The 29-year-old Real Madrid star has only started three of the team’s league games this season and averages just 36 minutes per game.

At this point in his career, he could well be open to a move away from the club for a team where he can have more prominence.

If Napoli’s interest is indeed serious, a lot is expected to move in the coming weeks for they will look to close the signing in the winter transfer market.

Given that Ceballos’ contract runs until 2027, it remains to be seen what monetary expectations Los Blancos have from the transfer.