West Ham have sent scouts to the U21 Euros to assess the talent there, according to ExWHUEmployee.
Whilst France are said to be the main focus of this mission, the Hammers should be looking at Spain – not just because of new recruit Pablo Fonals, but also for his teammate Dani Ceballos.
Ceballos has arguably been the player of the tournament so far, scoring twice and assisting twice, which was vital in ensuring Spain topped their group on goal difference.
He even earned himself a rating of 10 on WhoScored for his performance in the 5-0 win against Poland, when he assisted Spain’s second before scoring a wonderful free kick.
The only game he wasn’t Spain’s highest rated on WhoScored was against Belgium, where he was 0.5 behind Dani Olmo.
There were signs of his brilliance on the national stage before this though, as he already has a goal and assist in 213 minutes for Spain’s senior team.
It can be a dangerous game to spend considerable sums of money on a player based off tournament performances, but Ceballos has also done well in his club career – even if it has stalled slightly since Zinedine Zidane rejoined Real Madrid as manager.
He has over a 90% pass success rate in both La Liga and the Champions League and played an average of 1.3 key passes per game in Europe’s biggest club competition this season.
He can also help defensively, having made 1.4 tackles per game in La Liga during the 2018/19 campaign.
This is a very talented player who would certainly fit into the West Ham midfield – even though it already looks pretty strong, Ceballos would certainly improve it in my opinion.
Depending on how Pellegrini wanted to use him, Ceballos could play up alongside someone like Fornals or sit deeper with Declan Rice and dictate play from there.
West Ham’s decision to scout the tournament where some of Europe’s best players are competing is a smart one, by picking up Ceballos they would be getting one of the best of the bunch.
