Mikel Arteta has confirmed that there was an altercation between ex-Real Betis and Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos and his Arsenal team-mate David Luiz at their training ground in London.
The incident was reported on Friday in England, with David Ornstein of The Athletic claiming that Luiz punched Ceballos in the face, making his nose bleed. Ceballos himself, however, responded to the claim by denouncing it as fake.
— Daniel Ceballos (@DaniCeballos46) November 19, 2020
Arteta, the Arsenal manager, confirmed the incident at a press conference, claiming that what worried him isn’t that it happened but that it was leaked to the press. When asked whether the incident happened, he simply responded “yes”.
“I don’t like that the incident came to light,” Arteta said in comments published by Diario AS. “I’ll find out where it came from. It goes totally against what I expect, the privacy and confidentiality that we need. There will be consequences.”
According to reports the pair came to blows over the manner in which Ceballos was treating some of the academy players who were training with the first team.
It isn’t the first incident in which Ceballos has been involved in this season. At the beginning of the campaign he clashed with another team-mate, Eddie Nketiah, after which there was an apparent reconciliation.
Ceballos began his career with Sevilla, from whom he was released by in 2009 after suffering from chronic bronchitis. He then spent time with his local club, Utrera, before signing for Betis in 2011.
The Andalusian made his senior debut in 2014 and was part of the Betis team that won the Segunda in 2015. He ended up spending three years at the Benito Villamarin before joining Real Madrid in 2017, from whom he’s currently on loan at Arsenal.
Featured image courtesy of the Daily Express.
