Something strange happened at the Santiago Bernabeu at the start of this month: the home supporters sung Dani Ceballos' name.

It's been tough enough over the years for players who have won multiple trophies at the club to get that sort of vocal recognition. It was certainly never afforded Gareth Bale, and Cristiano Ronaldo never really got it either.

Nor is it just because Ceballos is Spanish. It's true the club's fans didn't much like them failing to field a single Spaniard in the starting line-up for the first time ever earlier this season, but Marco Asensio and Isco never had the vocal backing, even when they found themselves in the position Ceballos now finds himself in.

He is out of contract at the end of the season and they were singing for him to stay. His high-energy midfield displays full of commitment and passion have convinced the paying public that the club should do everything they can to keep him.

Real Madrid has yet to tie him down to a new deal even though his salary of around £3million net is one of the lower deals for a senior player at the club. 

Part of the delay in any offer arriving is that Madrid are still not certain about who will be in next season's midfield squad and who won't.

They want Jude Bellingham but they know they can't compete with two of his Premier League suitors Manchester City and Liverpool - unless the player decides to play in Spain for less, then he will not arrive. 

The futures of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos meanwhile are also up in the air. How much money there will be left for Ceballos, it's difficult to say. 

The supporters' desire to see him in a Madrid shirt next season ought to help him but it depends largely on what happens with other players.

If he does become available for free then there will be one obvious taker in Spain. He came through at Betis but they sold him to Madrid in 2017 for £14.5m today. 

They would take him back in a heartbeat and he would fit perfectly into the fluid style that Manuel Pellegrini loves.

The player is a Betis fan but it would be interesting to see if the offer of a return to the Premier League would pique his interest. Unai Emery signed him at Arsenal before he was replaced by Mikel Arteta. 

A club with Aston Villa's current ambitions would suit Ceballos better than a team trying to win the league, if he wanted a return.

'I'm loving the Premier League and I'm loving Arsenal,' he told Sportsmail in an interview in 2019 not long after he had arrived. He was at first blown away by the pace of the competition.

He said: 'I had never seen anything like what I saw at Anfield. I've not seen up until now a team that plays better, that presses better. Literally they suck the air out of you.'

Liverpool at the time were the greatest exponents of it but it was something he noticed throughout the league. In part, the experience has served him well. 

He always stood out for amount of pitch he covers. And it's notable that he operates a different speed to many of his rivals in what is a slower league.

He also compares favourably with Modric and Kroos. The German has always played at his own pace. The 37-year-old Croatian has been more dynamic but post-World Cup there has been a slowing down from him that has only made Ceballos alongside him look even faster.

The perpetual midfield motion also comes with precision passing and he got the 86th-minute winner this month in the Spanish Cup as Real Madrid beat Villarreal 3-2 to set up a semi-final with Barcelona.

He would have been earmarked to play in those two games by Carlo Ancelotti with his Champions League role a little more reduced. 

But with Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni both left in Madrid feeling unwell it is hard to see him not starting on Tuesday night.

Back on English soil he will have a point to prove - he left Arsenal on good terms with a message to fans thanking them for their support and suggesting under Mikel Arteta the club would 'soon be back on top, winning championships'. 

But Arsenal followers were not sad to see him return to Madrid.

At least at Madrid the supporters don't need convincing - and if the board are not swayed by the way the fans feel, then Betis will gladly take him once he has played out this campaign at Real Madrid.