Just over 12 hours after coming off following his first start of the season, Dani Ceballos has been hit with a hammer-blow. He is set to be out of action for at least the next six weeks.
Ceballos, 28, had been looking at leaving Real Madrid due to his lack of game time this summer, but ended up staying, with no side meeting Los Blancos’ demands. Less than 48 hours after the close of the transfer window, Ceballos was named in the starting line-up by Carlo Ancelotti against one of his suitors, Real Betis, with the Italian describing him as ‘very important’ in the build-up.
However Ceballos has since been diagnosed with an ankle sprain in his right leg, and will be out for between six and eight weeks, report Diario AS. Real Madrid have confirmed a grade three sprain, which also affects his ankle ligaments. Ceballos was substituted against Betis after 65 minutes with no apparent injury.
Dani Ceballos has been ruled out with an ankle sprain. He will miss the Madrid derby at the end of the month. Details of his recovery bellow. 👇
(Diario AS) #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/RWHIl8Eoth
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 2, 2024
Ceballos will be out until at least mid-October, and the worst-case scenario is that he is out until November. In the former situation, he will miss games against Real Sociedad (A), Stuttgart (H), Espanyol (H), Alaves (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Lille (A) and Villarreal (H). Should his injury extend towards the longer recovery time, games against Celta Vigo (A), Borussia Dortmund (H) and potentially El Clasico against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu would be at risk.
His injury will be a crushing blow for the player first and foremost, who looked as if he could be in for more game time. Los Blancos are now down to just Aurelien Tchouameni, Fede Valverde, Luka Modric and Arda Guler in midfield. Brahim Diaz could slot in deeper, while Jude Bellingham will be back towards the end of September, with their clash against Atletico Madrid the target. Eduardo Camavinga is the other recovering midfielder, and he is expected to be back around the end of September or start of October.
