Mohamed Elneny has publicly expressed his wish to sign a new Arsenal contract.
Having gone through the youth ranks at El Ahly and El Mohawloon in his homeland, the Egyptian made his way to Basel in January 2013, on an initial loan deal which was made permanent six months later. He spent three years in Switzerland and arrived to the Emirates in 2016 for a reported fee of €12.5 million.
He’s never been more than a relatively reliable squad player at Arsenal, and in 2019 he left on a season-long loan to Besiktas. There was some speculation about his future when he returned last summer, but he ended up staying put for the time being and his 30 appearances in all competitions this term prove that the hard-working midfielder still has a place in the squad under the command of Mikel Arteta.
Overall, the 28-year-old has played 119 games in the Arsenal shirt so far, scoring four goals and assisting his teammates on four occasions. Primarily a defensive midfielder, Elneny provides a good alternative to either Granit Xhaka or Thomas Partey in the 4-2-3-1 formation Arteta prefers these days. It’s worth remembering that Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos also competes for one of these two spots, and if Arsenal fail to agree a permanent switch for the Spaniard at the end of the season, they are likely to sign another player.
In such company, Elneny’s place in the starting XI is still far from guaranteed, but it appears he doesn’t mind a rotational role, having been helped by Arteta to understand the way he was expected to play.
“Of course, for me I am always loyal to Arsenal,” he said. “And if Arsenal say to me: ‘Sign a new contract’, of course I would be happy to do this.”
