COMMENT
On Tuesday evening, Saul Niguez made headlines by scoring a hat-trick in Spain's 3-1 victory over Italy at the European Under-21 Championship – yet it was his team-mate Dani Cebellos whom everyone was talking about afterwards.
Of course, the Betis midfielder has been attracting attention for some time now - just not always for the right reasons.
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When both Barcelona and Athletic Club supporters booed the Spanish national anthem before the 2015 Copa del Rey final at Camp Nou, the Andalusian expressed his hope that a bomb be dropped "on the stands and kill those Catalan and Basque dogs".
He had previous, too, having labelled Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique "shameless" for celebrating Spain's Euro 2012 success with the Semeyra flag before then adding: "Get out of the country, Catalans!"
There has also been a pro-Franco tweet, as well as dreadfully derogatory comments about Iker Casillas and his wife Sara Carbonero and, allegedly, some shockingly misogynistic musings about 14-year-old girls.
Even aside from his crude and offensive contributions to social media as a teenager, Dani had also come across as a petulant, dislikeable personality on the pitch.
When Betis relegated Getafe on the final day of the 2015-16 season with a 2-1 victory at the Benito Villamarin, he had told crestfallen centre-back Cala: "I hope you go rot in the second division and the club disappears."
It was a shame that what Dani was saying was overshadowing what he was doing. And what he had done.
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This was a talented playmaker who had been let go by Sevilla as a 13-year-old because he was understandably struggling with the effects of bronchitis.
Then, after making a name for himself with hometown club Utrera, he signed for Sevilla's city rivals Betis and went from the Juvenil straight into the first team, at the age of 17.
By August 2015, Arsenal and Liverpool were vying for his signature. The following year, Atletico Madrid and Napoli entered the race.
Now, Real Madrid are ready to meet his ridiculously low €15 million buy-out clause and loan him back to Betis for another season.
It would be the steal of the summer, as was so exhilaratingly underlined by his mesmerising display against Italy in Krakow.
Saul may have hit a hat-trick but it was Dani who ran the game, bewitching those in attendance and bemusing every Italian that tried to dispossess him.
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As Marca noted on their front page, it had been both the Atletico Madrid ace’s “three goals and a great performance from Ceballos” that had earned La Rojita a place in Friday’s final.
His assist for Saul's opener epitomised his vision and patience, with the 20-year-old turning down one potential pass before dropping his shoulder, shifting inside and then waiting until the very last second to allow his team-mate to advance into the Italian area before finding him with a perfectly-weighted ball.
However, there were two other moments which really took the breath away.
Firstly, the way in which he embarrassed Roberto Gagliardini with a casual nutmeg that resulted in the Inter midfielder losing his head and earning a second yellow card for chopping Dani down.
Then, minutes later, he embarked upon a run from the halfway line which saw him embarrass three further players clad in blue with subtle feints and effortless turns of pace.
It was a wonderful moment which instantaneously evoked memories of Andres Iniesta in his pomp.
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However, while Dani’s future is still undecided, if there's one thing we know for sure, it's that he won't be replacing the legendary No.8 at Camp Nou.
After his masterclass in Krakow, Dani was asked about the reports that he is bound for the Bernabeu and, to his credit, he played them down, pointing out that he still has three years left on his contract and that no decision will be made on his next move until at least after he returns from Poland.
It seems that rather than running his mouth, Dani is now just going to let his football do the talking for him.