Mikel Arteta says Dani Ceballos has made it clear to him that he wants to re-join Arsenal.
The midfielder spent last season on loan at Emirates Stadium from Real Madrid and he impressed under Arteta.
The Gunners would like to loan the Spain international again this year, but Real Madrid have called him back for pre-season.
Arteta, however, has not given up hope of keeping Ceballos and says the player told him he wants to stay in north London.
“Well, we have some talks and Dani knows really well what I think about him,” said Arteta.
“He was pretty clear with me as well that his intention was to remain with us, but obviously Real Madrid is involved and I don’t know yet what they want to do with the player.
“But he’s a player that we are interested in because we really saw, in the last few months of the season, what he is capable of bringing to us.”
