Marco Asensio Injury Could Be 'Bad News' for Dani Ceballos Deal, Says Unai Emery

Arsenal manager Unai Emery said a knee injury to Marco Asensio could be "bad news" for the Gunners' pursuit of his Real Madrid team-mate Dani Ceballos. 

Asensio was hospitalised after being stretchered off during a friendly with Arsenal on Tuesday and could miss the majority of the upcoming season:

Per Goal's Stephen Creek, Emery was asked if that could affect a potential loan deal for Ceballos and said: "I don't know. Our target also was not to take injuries in that match, and they maybe have with Asensio. It [could be] bad news, for them and also for us. I don't know if it can change something."

Goal's Charles Watts is hoping the injury will not have an impact on the deal:

According to Mark Mann-Bryans of the Press Association, prior to the injury his move appeared to be imminent:

Ceballos is a central midfielder, whereas Asensio is often deployed as a winger. The latter is occasionally used as a No. 10 also, but there's relatively little overlap between the pair.

As such, it would seem unlikely that Asensio's injury will prevent the Gunners from securing Ceballos, but if Los Blancos rethink their plans for the season they may decide to keep him.

Ceballos is a technically adept player who should be well-suited to Arsenal.

His creativity and ability to drive his side forward would help mitigate the departure of Aaron Ramsey, too, so there's scope for him to carve out an important role for himself at the Emirates Stadium.

Given Arsenal's limited budget this summer, missing out on a shrewd loan acquisition like Ceballos would be a damaging blow to their preparations for the new season.