It’s often forgotten that Dani Ceballos plays for Real Madrid. That he even plays football is not too far away from being a valid question.
That’s not to say, Ceballos is not a quality player. It couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s simply a case of the quality that is stacked at Real Madrid and the sheer talent they have at their disposal who are ahead of Ceballos in the pecking order. Just ask Luka Modric these days.
Who can forget the strange times of the pandemic when Ceballos was running rings and pulling the strings for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal whilst on loan from Real Madrid. He even won the FA Cup against Chelsea in his final game for the club before being replaced by another Madrid loanee in Martin Odegaard next season.
Since then, he has been a permanent member of Real Madrid’s squad. He even won the Champions League and LaLiga title under Carlo Ancelotti. While he may have racked up the silverware, he was far away from having a starring role in the team. It’s a trend that has continued and could be seen yesterday when he was again left on the bench as an unused substitute during Madrid’s 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League Semi Final clash.
The only time fans could manage to catch a glimpse of the Spaniard on the field, was when he stopped by to click a picture with his sisters in the stands before the big game.
Ceballos was born and brought up in Sevilla where he joined the Real Betis academy. It is where he grew up with his sisters and his family before moving to Madrid in 2017.
Not much is known about Ceballos’ sisters. One of them, however is actually a model and much followed personality on Instagram. Salome Ceballos Fernandez is Ceballos’ younger sister who is a popular figure on Instagram with considerable media presence and about 27,000 followers. She is a travel vlogger, a model and a brand ambassador for a whole lot of elite and luxury brands such as Gucci.
Salome is a staunch supporter of her brother’s career and football. She is known for publicly speaking out in strong favor of Ceballos. She also gained a lot of popularity for her statement against Gavi after a coming together of the players last season when Real Madrid were handed a 3-1 defeat in the SuperCup, calling Ceballos a clear and better player than Gavi.
Not only picking up sticks and stones against opposition players, Salome also came out with strong support for her brother against a controversial decision by his own coach Zinedine Zidane when he took off Ceballos just a few minutes after coming on in a bizarre-looking decision.
The Ceballos sisters have also been in the media before as well. While Ceballos was starting out his career, the two sisters were interviewed by Marca about their brother’s emergence. Their first appearance in the media, that’s when the sisters were introduced to the world of football and that’s where we also get to meet Maria Ceballos, Dani’s elder sister.
While Salome has been an avid spokesperson for Dani’s career, that too publicly, Maria is a pillar of strength for Ceballos within the family. Like Salome, her support for her brother is unwaivering. As a stamp, she carries with her the date when Ceballos made his football debut inked on her left shoulder. So strong is the family dynamics, that the sisters are ready to defend their brother and support him no matter what.
Ceballos may not have been receiving a lot of minutes of football but his character and personality of putting his team first has been greatly appreciated. That’s something that surely trickles down from his family and their values. Even their sisters admitted this quality about Ceballos in their interview.
With his contract at Madrid expiring this summer, don’t be surprised if a big European team comes calling and benefits from Ceballos’ team-first attitude and his obvious great talents.