Dani Ceballos has finished his season-long loan spell at Arsenal with a trophy but his future is still up in the air.
"It's a satisfaction to have won the FA Cup," he told Spanish outlet Cadena Ser as cited by the Express. "I'm thrilled to end the season with a title.
"Real Madrid have remained close to me throughout the season, not just now. I'm grateful for that. I spoke to the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who has congratulated me for the title.
"From today, I am a Real Madrid player and I'm happy about that. Real Madrid have an important game against Manchester City [on August 7] and from then on, I will talk to the club and discuss my future.
"It's clear that Real Madrid have great players. They have won the most important title this season, which is La Liga.
"I need to talk to the club and will do so after City and evaluate what is best for me.
"Next year there's the European Championship and the Olympics and I want to enjoy football, to be happy and play a minimum of 35 games, that is my aim."
Dani managed to win over the hearts of the Gunners faithful after the resumption of the EPL season.
Mikel Arteta used his compatriot in a deeper role in contrast to Dani's attacking gusto and the Spaniard reinvented himself as a box-to-box midfielder.
His quiet but assuring presence in the middle of the park helped Arsenal in many ways as the 23-year-old was good at everything: ball distribution and ball recovery, driving runs forward and trickery.
Now, with his loan agreement expired, Arsenal need to either look for a new midfielder (Thomas Partey is almost a household name among Arsenal fans now) or work towards getting Ceballos back.
Arteta earlier stated that he would like the 23-year-old to stay at the Emirates beyond this season.
"I’m really happy with him, I think he’s evolving in the right way and he’s becoming a really important player for us," said the boss.
The Spanish tactician also insisted that the club has to discuss the potential transfer with Zinedine Zidane's side.
It is rumoured that Real Madrid are completely fine with letting Dani go on a permanent deal, with his transfer fee fluctuating between €20m (El Confidencial) and €35m (Marca).
Another option would be another season-long loan move, which is said to be 'almost done' (Diario AS). Given Arsenal are supposedly rather cash-strapped in this window, it would indeed make a lot of sense to loan the 23-year-old with a purchase option.
