Why Arsenal should offload Mohamed Elneny
According to the Evening Standard (h/t Daily Mail), Mohamed Elneny is back with Arsenal following a fine one-year loan spell at Besiktas.
The 28-year-old has already announced his return to the Emirates, scoring Arsenal’s opening goal in their 4-1 win against MK Dons on Tuesday. Elneny, who arrived in England last week following his loan spell in Turkey, last featured for the Gunners back in May 2019.
Meanwhile, Elneny’s fine form while on loan in Turkey last season has made him the subject of transfer interest from a host of clubs, according to Turkish Football (h/t Daily Mail). The report claims that Besiktas, for whom he played last season, are now keen to secure his services permanently. Fellow Turkish heavyweights Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor are also interested.
A defensive midfielder by trade, Elneny soon became a regular feature in the Besiktas side despite being on loan. He impressed for the Turkish side, scoring once and providing four assists from 36 matches across all competitions.
Elneny surplus to requirements at Arsenal
Meanwhile, Elneny, who is now back in England, still has two years left on his current Gunners contract. However, the Egyptian has, to date, never really managed to establish himself at the Emirates despite having joined the side back in 2016 for a fee of £5m under Arsene Wenger.
He has so far made only 89 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions and only the future knows what’s in store for the midfielder. Also, at the moment, Arsenal have two defensive midfielders in their ranks apart from Elneny.
Swiss star Granit Xhaka is one of them while Uruguayan Lucas Torreira is the other. Xhaka is a key player in the Arsenal side under Mikel Arteta.
He played a key role in the side’s recent FA Cup triumph and made a total of 41 appearances for them last season, meaning he is clearly one of the favourites under Arteta. Torreira, on the other hand, has mostly played second fiddle to Xhaka and has made fewer appearances.
However, with the side already having two midfielders who can play in the holding midfield role, Elneny’s first-team opportunities seem very limited. Moreover, with the Egyptian midfielder still failing to nail down a spot in the first-team, he looks surplus to the club’s requirements.
Hence, Arsenal should sell him, especially now, with the player attracting interest from Turkey. Rather than keeping him in the side unnecessarily, they can offload him and use that money to strengthen areas that need real improvement.
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Verdict
Arsenal currently have enough depth in their defensive midfield role and having an extra face such as Elneny seems totally pointless. Moreover, Arteta seems to be content with Xhaka and it would be difficult for Elneny to break into the side, having failed all these years. Hence, they should make use of this opportunity and raise funds to improve the side by selling Elneny.