Mohamed Elneny says that he has no intention of leaving Arsenal this summer, despite reported interest from clubs like Leicester City and Galatasary.
The Egyptian international joined the Gunners from FC Basel in January 2016, and has proved a useful member of the squad, if not always a first team regular.
He worked well with Granit Xhaka during yesterday’s Community Shield win over Chelsea, and afterwards said he wanted to prove a point with his display.
“There has been a lot of criticism recently and I wanted to prove that I deserve to play for a big team like Arsenal,” he told BEIN Sports.
“That was my best game for Arsenal. I am giving all that I have on the field for the team thanks to God and to the support I have from the coach and my team-mates.
“I am 100 per cent concentrated and I’ll give my best to the team day after day.”
As for his future, he seemed pretty clear, saying, “I am staying at Arsenal this season.”
As for the win itself, Elneny believes it will help the preparation for the new Premier League campaign which kicks off on Friday against Leicester – a team he reportedly turned down a move to earlier in the summer.
We had the motivation to win the game against the league winners – Chelsea – and especially almost a week before the start of the league, which will help us a lot,” he said.
“This is a tremendous push for our team to look better and play better on and off the pitch.”
Good
He didn’t put a single foot wrong against Chelsea. Since he’s been at the club I think he’s been exceptional honestly I think he should would have cemented his place as a starter if it wasn’t for his nation’s cup duties and subsequent injury when he returned. He’s so mobile like he never stands still he’s always moving always available to help the team to receive a pass to recover and I love especially how he presses in midfield that’s one of the best things about his game that I like I think he’s should stay keep improving and he… Read more »
Fine words my friend and very well said. Allow me to add a few important information to your fine insight and evaluation which I totally agree with. For a start Elneny suffered a serious confidence issue after Xhaka joining and taking over his place in the starting lineup and him being so emotional this really affected him deeply as he thought he already earned his place as a starter through his fine start in the 2nd half of the earlier season and you probably know how serious it could be for a player at this level to have his confidence… Read more »
I absolutely agree. Spot on!
Great attitude. Must admit I’m one who can see a potential upgrade on Elneny. But that kind of approach and display goes a long way to overcoming some of the flaws in his game. Keep it up Mo!
Good for us.
We should be keeping players like him that have acclimatised, know the other players and can kick on, into the best years of their careers (he is 25). New signings will take time to get used to the PL.
Looking forward to a good season from him.
Congratulations dude! Pretty rare to hit triple-digit votes without a single downvote.
It might be just my OCD but I like the sight of 100 0.
You jinxed it.
The person who downvoted it. What a complete knob-head.
A small extra benefit: now that the African Cup of Nations has been moved to summer, we won’t have to worry about Elneny (or Iwobi) missing a month or two in the middle of our season.
Great squad player, on and off the field.
He’s done a great job stepping in for the injured Cazorla as Mr.Happy, no?
Honestly watching the game/highlights/pictures from yesterday, I realised that Xhaka is taking up the happy smiley thing quite well too.
Hah yeah. Seems like a genuinly happy and nice man, just like Cazorla.
Seri _ Xaka >>> Ellery _ Xaka
Spelling_Valid-Comments >>>Nonsense_Speculation
I totally agree. The current David Elleray/Xhaka midfield partnership needs to go. But I prefer the look of that Pierluigi Collina chap, if I’m being honest.
I’m not going to trust the “expert opinion” of someone who doesn’t even know how to spell the names of the players he’s judging.
Dontknow_shit_about_arsenal>>>and_yeah_spelling
Syntax error.
Checked that on Football Manager, did you?
People seem to forget he scored an absolute screamer against Barcelona as well!
I can’t think think of a PL team that wouldn’t love a consistent, positive, capable midfielder like Elneny. Always slots in when you need him, never complains when you don’t. He can run for days and he’s careful on the ball. Perfect squad player with the potential to still grow into more.
Agreed on all counts. Can we train him to think twice before shooting from outside the box, though?
If anything we need more players prepared to take a shot from long range. He’s got a decent boot on him, it doesn’t always come off but neither does trying to pass it over the line. I hate seeing a player come to Arsenal prepared to shoot and then get it drilled out of them tother other extreme.
Couldn’t agree with this more.
Surely, El-neny and Xhaka were both signed, at least in part, because each of them has the ability and willingness to shoot from range, making them ideal players against bus-parking teams.
Elnenys best game for Arsenal yet and he should shoot more from outside the box it was one of his best skills before we bought him and opposing teams wont expect it from Arsenal instead of trying to walk it into the net with no one prepared to take the responsability to shoot
For sure, if he’s happy to be a squad player he’s a fantastic backup – particularly in the games when we want to dominate possession.
To see him ever challenge Ramsey/Santi for a starting spot he will need to improve either his shooting ability or defensive strength.
Agreed on everything until the last bit. I just don’t think he has the tools to be a first 11 player for a team that want to win the league. Nothing wrong with that obviously, he’s a good option to have around. My big concern is who out of Elneny, Rambo & Coq is good enough to be first choice partner for Xhaka? The answer is none of them for me, which I think is the big gap in our squad.
He was MOTM to me, so I don’t really like the term “squad player” applied to him. It’s better Ramsey doesn’t feel too comfortable.
decent backup indeed
Oh what a joy it is to have players like Mo as our back up options. Remember the days where Denilson was starting week in week out!
Thanks allah
This comment though cracked my ribs ?
I think he was talking about the injury god
The new Edu/Parlour.
Completely agree with the New Edu comment- was thinking the same yesterday.
I am a fan of Mo, he is a world class passer, works his arse off and always keeps an eye on his defensive duties, rather than blindly charging forward as Ramsey and Wilshire have tended to do in that position. Very good squad player and I think it would be a mistake to offload him.
Ah come on now…Xhaka might be a world class passer but Elneny? You’re getting totally carried away there. He’s a decent, tidy passer but no more than that.
Definitely a good squad player. But i would certainly be putting xhaka, ramsey and coquelin on the pitch in front of him when available.
That performance last night may have just pushed wilshire out the door though.
He had good game yesterday ,probably our best player ,has good fitness level still chasing ball down for full 90 ,like him a lot
Very poor player, not able to hold out the ball,renumber rival,unable any dribbling, he is able only to run like sense naked. Doesn’ t deserve to play like regular gunner.
Yesterday proves otherwise. Look at his numbers.
A decent player and seems like a decent enough bloke, I don’t understand the hostility to him.
I have zero clue what you wrote about, but I’m gonna thumbs-up vote it for the most insane translation I’ve ever seen!
I will like hv some of dat shit u smoking bro
How can you judge someone for “he is able only to run like sense naked”?! To me that sounds like an incredible skill 🙂
He’s getting back to being the player that originally signed. Someone who moves the ball forward quickly and then follows for the return pass. He seemed to have lost that, perhaps feeling inferior to his team mates but I like his game when he’s being positive and buzzing around the pitch looking to actually make things happen
That exact kind of move was what won us the free kick that led to the goal we scored.
I am desperate to see him (our midfielders in general) play more and more like this.
I also think coquelin has a far greater skill set than he’s given credit for and can play much further forward and to good effect
This pleases me. I think he proved yesterday not only what a useful player he is, but that he can be a good one too. And it’s nice to have options.
another thing I like about Mo is he rarely looks rusty, even if he has gone a long time without a game he slots in and does a job. Happy, capable backups are very important imo and we shouldn’t sell him unless we can get a guaranteed upgrade
I think the only rust he picks up is positional rust. Seems abit out of place or caught out sometimes when he comes in cold. But his touches and decision making on the ball is still on point.
This article took me by surprise. He’s a really solid player. No obvious reason to sell him. Can play with pretty much any other midfielder in the squad.
People tend to forget how good he originally was when he joined winning player of the months twice in a row. People also need to look at why his form dropped later on and that has hugely to do with his confidence levels being affected largely after Xhaka and taking from him that starting spot and I was personally sorry for the guy being a player myself there is nothing that hurts more than seeing another player automatically taking your spot after such a decent start to his career in a new team.I think he had enough time to reflect… Read more »
We absolutely cannot lose him, he is such a consistent performer and does whatever is asked of him. He certainly is not flashy, but works his butt off every match he plays, does not turn the ball over, is always working to provide an option for the player with the ball, keeps it moving well, has a great attitudet and really is underrated as to how he reads the game and is in the right position whether we have the ball or are defending. Personally I think he should be part of a rotation with Ramsey and Xhaka in DCM… Read more »
He was very impressive yesterday. Covered as much ground as Kante.
I have no problem with Elneny staying, he’s a good squad player who can play all of the cup and Europa games while filing in when players like Xhaka & Ramsey need a rest.
One of the best things to happen this summer was the rescheduling of the African Cup of Nations to fit in with the european football calendar, this should help El Neny immeasurably.
He, and all african players can now be picked without a manager having to worry that they’ll be missing for crucial parts of the season, something i’m convinced restricted him to only 7 or 8 starts last season
Really like this lad. He has the right attitude, seems to love being an Arsenal player and he’s getting better and better. Think he is vastly underrated.
And he’s got cool hair!
I tried to focus on him as much as the camera angles would allow.
The way he tracks the movement of the ball was really impressive.
Not good enough to be a starter but a very useful squad player. Could probably fill in at right wingback as well if crisis hits.
Consistent squad players are the difference between improvement and decline. The ability to be able to bring on someone who wont play below a certain level whether he is in form or not is immense. Edu used to do this and currently Giroud does with goals from the bench and his general hold up play. Its the players like Gibbs and Debuchy who offer nothing to complement the team who need to be moved on. Even the Walcotts of this world need to be considered in as much as he goes through flurries of scoring, more often than not he… Read more »
A much better option than that headless chicken of a player called Ramsey!
I don’t think he wants to leave. Offers won’t be as attractive to staying even if on bench. That said, he looked decent and if he can develop his long range shooting, maybe another asset we can employ. Otherwise he is chiefly to me utility. One thing I like about him is he is full of running. BUT I still think we need to upgrade deep midfield. Granit is key at the moment. The Swiss long passing range is essential for us to move the ball up field quickly. Ramsey has a knack for link play and moving into the… Read more »
I like that he is aware that Arsenal is far far bigger than him and any other player , He is just happy to be given an opportunity to make his mark and to play his role as part of the team.
I believe we voted him player of the month for his first two months at the club did we not ?