Dani Ceballos has vowed to "give everything" in the final months of the 2022-23 campaign in the hope of convincing Real Madrid to hand him a new contract.
The 26-year-old initially joined Los Blancos from Real Betis in 2017, and he has made 91 appearances for the capital giants, scoring six goals and contributing six assists in the process.
Ceballos spent both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns on loan at Arsenal, though, before returning to Bernabeu, and he featured on 18 occasions for the capital giants last term.
The Spaniard has already made 17 appearances this season, including 10 in La Liga, starting two of his side's last three matches in Spain's top flight.
Ceballos came off the bench to star against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey last week, providing a goal and an assist to help Los Blancos win 3-2 to book their spot in the quarter-finals.
The midfielder then played 85 minutes of Sunday's 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric both starting on the bench.
Ceballos's current deal at Bernabeu is due to expire at the end of June, but the Spaniard is determined to convince the Spanish giants to hand him an extension.
"There is no bigger club than Madrid. I have four months left on my contract, but I am going to give everything to show that I want to stay here. I have to grit my teeth and show that I have the level to play here," he told Real Madrid TV.
"I had a great second half against Villarreal and I helped the team with a nice comeback. The coach then asked me to start.
"I have provided energy and desire and I have shown it on the pitch. I am very happy for the victory, especially in this very difficult stadium."
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said that Ceballos "deserved to play" against Athletic on Sunday night due to his performance off the bench against Villarreal.
"I didn't want to take any risks with Kroos as it's important to keep a lot of players motivated at this stage of the season," said the Italian following the two-goal success at San Mames.
"Ceballos and [Marco] Asensio both deserved to play after their performances against Villarreal and Kroos needed the rest after playing a lot of games.
"Luka could also have played because he's trained very well, but I preferred to rest him too. We competed well and defended very strongly."
As it stands, Karim Benzema, Asensio, Kroos, Modric, Ceballos, Nacho and Mariano Diaz only have contracts with the Spanish and European champions until the end of June. body check tags ::
