Real Madrid have announced they have fended off competition from rivals Barcelona to sign Real Betis midfielder Dani Ceballos.
Ceballos has been heavily linked with a move to the European champions after being voted the Best Player at the U21 European Championships this summer.
The 20-year-old, who had a €15m release clause in his contract, turned down a bumper new deal at Betis in order to force through a move to Madrid and will be unveiled at the Santiago Bernabeu on July 20 before joining the rest of the team on their pre-season tour of America a day later.
Barcelona were also in the running for the talented Spanish midfielder but have been beaten to the signature of young talent by their fiercest rivals for the third time this summer. Having already missed out on Theo Hernandez and Vinicius, it’s been a poor summer for the La Liga giants.
Only Neymar (126) was fouled more times in La Liga last season than the Betis No.10 (118), while only Neymar (311), Lionel Messi (243), Filipe Luis (145) and Yannick Carrasco (138) have completed more dribbles than Ceballos (133) in the last two La Liga campaigns.
For more stats on Dani Ceballos, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
