Wolverhampton Wanderers are ready to make an audacious bid for Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The 26-year-old is out of contract this summer and is free to negotiate terms with interested parties over a potential move.
Champions League holders Real, who will take on Chelsea in the quarter-finals of this year’s edition, are in talks with Ceballos about extending his contract, but although the Spaniard is happy in Madrid and the club are confident about renewing, there are ongoing concerns about his playing time at the Bernabeu.
Indeed, Real Madrid have a swathe of quality options in midfield – Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga to name just four – and they have a strong interest in signing Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.
Ceballos has enjoyed a run in the first team of late, putting in a number of impressive performances, but he has never started more than 13 La Liga games in a season for Real since arriving from Real Betis in 2017.
Sources have confirmed to 90min that Ceballos is again attracting interest from England, this time in the form of Wolves, who are looking to bolster their central midfield options and are managed by former Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui.
Ceballos is known to be a player that Lopetegui admires – they spent a couple of months together during the latter’s brief stint in the Spanish capital – and he could help fill the potential voids left by Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes in midfield. The Portuguese pair are generating serious interest from elsewhere and could be allowed to leave Molineux so that Wolves can reinvest.
90min understands that Wolves are readying an approach for Ceballos, but are acutely aware that he’ll need persuading to leave Real Madrid for a side who are still fighting to preserve their Premier League status – any move will obviously be dependant on Wolves achieving that goal.
Atletico Madrid are also interested in signing Ceballos, while sources have confirmed that Real Betis would like to re-sign him.
Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig are among his admirers in Germany, along with Ligue 1 duo Marseille and Monaco, and Serie A trio Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan are also thought to be keeping tabs on his situation.