Arsenal boss Unai Emery conceded his side’s hopes of signing Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos may be impacted by Marco Asensio’s injury.
Asensio sustained knee ligament damage and could miss the entire season following on from a pre-season meeting between the clubs on Tuesday.
Earlier this week BBC Sport, following on from reports in Diario AS, claimed the Ceballos loan deal will be completed imminently with no transfer fee involved and no option to buy included in the move.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” Emery responded when asked if Asensio’s injury would impact his side’s chances of landing Ceballos.
“Our target was not to have any injuries in the match and they have, maybe, a very big injury with Asensio – it is bad news for them and also for us.
“I do not know if it will change anything.”
Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane added: “Nothing has been done yet and it is not official, although I think the club are working on it and we will see soon.”
The midfielder starred for Spain’s Under-21 side this summer in their successful European Championships tournament.
Madrid were said to value the player at €50m but were not keen on a permanent sale, with Sevilla, Real Betis and Milan also linked to the player.
Ceballos joined Madrid from Betis for €16m in 2017 but has started just 17 times in La Liga and just twice in the Champions League and has often appeared to be a fringe figure – appearing in 56 matches across two campaigns.
The Spain international started and scored in March’s 3-2 victory over Huesca – his first home goal for the club – but was selected just once more in the 10 matches since.
Madrid have spent over €300m on five new signings this summer but now have a bloated first-team squad and are searching for further exits.
