It is being reported this morning that Mohamed Elneny has suffered a significant injury, picked up during the 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday.
🚨 Mohamed Elneny suffered significant injury vs Fulham. Arsenal awaiting full extent but 30yo expected to miss considerable spell. Partey also nursing (relatively minor) muscle issue so #AFC may look to recruit in midfield. With @gunnerblog @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/8b567oDygj
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 30, 2022
It appears as if the Egypt international will be sidelined for some time, and with Thomas Partey also nursing thigh strain it’s a worry for Mikel Arteta.
Partey’s absence on Saturday was described as precautionary, but he has had a history of thigh problems since his arrival from Atletico Madrid, and that would demand real caution to ensure the problem is not exacerbated.
Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga, yet to make an appearance this season, are now the two established options for that deeper lying midfield role, but with a hectic schedule of Premier League and Europa League football to come, surely greater depth and quality is required in a key area of the pitch.
The transfer window remains open until Thursday night at 11pm, and it now remains to be seen whether this will change any potential business the club might do. The manager has expressed his desire to add more firepower, but they may be forced to change tack and seek a central midfielder.
A first choice midfielder should’ve been top of our recruitment list. We saw at the weekend the drop off when Partey is injured.
Agreed, Partey has been key to our recent successes and we need someone strong to back him up. Weird on Elneny, he seemed to be fine during and at the end of the match. Anyone see any signs he was injured?
Might have celebrated too hard and aggravated an unknown injury
Really strange as I remember perfectly clear watching him at the end of the game celebrating with the boys. Seemed perfectly fine. Could it be a muscle issue that you feel the next day sort of thing?
Agreed, make sure to recruit a player that is better than Xhaka, play that player when Partey is injured as a number 6 and when Partey is playing instead of Xhaka as an 8, lets go!
Fortunate this happened before the TW shut.
We cannot realistically get someone as good, or nearly as good, as Partey and expect that he will be satisfied to be a squad player (that is, if anyone at Partey’s level could be gotten without an astronomical price). The good news is that Partey, still as good as ever, is not quite as important to us. He was almost indispensable because he effectively was the only way we played out–the two centre-halves or Ramsdale got him the ball even when he was well-marked and he advanced it–and quickly–either by turning and carrying the ball or with a pass, typically… Read more »
Fernandinho,Rodri,busquets…this profile of player is central to the type of style we play…there are very good players on the benches of top teams in Europe…tchouameni and camavinga came in from the French league..not sure we’ve prioritized the deal…..the clock is ticking…I do not agree there’s no upgrade on Elneny in Europe..
The amazing part is that anyone downvoted you….The writing has been on the wall…TP5’s absence probably cost us a CL spot so it’s a no brainer we should have done that piece of business early…bring in a loan deal….we could easily play 60matches this season….. doing business in January never bodes well…
To be honest, don’t think we saw that big a drop off!
Wow! It’s well…… Let’s dance the ‘Konga 15 Points loading
today’s injury news sponsored by Random Sentence Generator Online
i assumed this was a very confusing reference to Sambi Lakonga getting his time to shine
ahhaha thanks I see it now. I read it at face value and genuinely had no idea what he was on about.
Fuvk that sucks
Thank god the window is still open. Time to act now!! We need 1 CMD immediately. Partey is going to be injured a lot.
Quite. If only we could go along the transfer supermarket shelf, pick one up and put him into the basket. I hope we can get someone suitable, but we’re under more pressure the closer the deadline gets – and potential sellers know that.
Are we realistically going to find someone better than Sambi in two days? And at the expense of a winger?
Grillitsch – classic CDM, quite experienced and on a free
As an Austrian who has seen him a lot: no, not good enough.
Tielemans? Hello?
Tielemans of two seasons ago, yes. Today’s Tielemans, no.
That seemed to have worked with Gabriel Jesus. Maybe Edu just needs to tell Tielemans that we want his previous iteration as well.
And your solution is….?
He’s been playing for a declining Leicester team. He also wanted to leave last summer.
Arteta will get the best out of him
Yes. It is possible.
While clearly a big negative re. Elneny, I’d like to think this strengthens our hand regarding Ainsley Maitland-Niles – no way he should be shipped out on loan with an option to buy as is being reported Southampton want. We made a mistake not utilising his versatility properly last year and sending him on loan to Roma when he could have been used (at least in January). This time we have to be sensible as to our own needs first and foremost, either he’s kept (giving us options to use him centrally or move other fullbacks and have him cover… Read more »
We need to strengthen not stand still.
Ainsley’s only been good at RB (and generally only as a wing back when we’re playing 3 at the back) so that doesn’t solve anything. Tomi or Ben White aren’t swapping with him either to fill that midfield spot. Our teams come along way since the last time Ainsley played midfield, if he wasn’t good enough then, he definitely won’t be good enough now. Still the coolest man on a penalty kick though!
With five subs, maybe we can send Maitland-Niles in when we win a penalty.
I don’t know how I feel ready this sort of things. I mean, how do you guys reason this way?
You want progress but you want the same less quality players be kept?
What happened to selling him and getting an upgrade?
I mean, if he’s that good, why did Roma not play him?
Cos he’s not that good. Decent but not what we need.
we want progress yet we also realise we’re not manchester city or psg so we try to solve our problems internally instead of asking daddy kroenke to offload another 40M on top of the already huge amount spent just because a player got injured.
There’s a new report that Newcastle is in talks with Arsenal about a season-long loan for AMN. If true, that will be a disappointment as we really wanted to get a fee for him but there don’t appear to be any takers.
Arteta builds teams of players who have a strong desire and commitment to Arsenal. I am not sure that AMN has repaired or wants to repair that surrendered desire.
I love AMN, but he won’t be solving any problems at the fullback positions or CM. Also Tomi and Tierney are both coming back from serious injuries, they’ll need sufficient cover at RB/LB anyway, so that rules out White doing a job at CDM. AMN needs to be moved on, for everyone’s sake.
Nah, stick a fork in Ainsley, he’s done.
A cool customer when taking a penalty, but he’s become a lazy fucker in midfield.
He had his chance in pre season to impress and clearly couldn’t be bothered. No chasing back, lazy passes, bad attitude.
As you say, time to get rid.
Does this means our season’s done before it even started. Because as it stands we’re damn light in the middle of the park. This is what happens when your main man is always injured. OMG😱 I don’t want to experience this again.
Get back on the Xanax mate – transfer window is still open to sort out cover.
The Injury Gods never seem to forget us
Old gods and the new.
where are the gods of trophies and pool-steroids ?
After the oil money?
For ffs, Liverpool are playing without half their team. Every club has this, it just depends on the quality of the squad.
You can’t have Wengerball without the injuries. It is known.
Bit confused how this info got out. Surely it doesn’t help us in preparation for tmrws game, as well as it complicates our position in the transfer window.
Did the info leak? Did Arsenal leak it intentionally? Would think Ornstein could ‘postpone’ this info for a couple of days in order to maintain good relationship with the club.
Same, bit weird the way it was announced
It doesn’t really matter as the news would be out in the press conference today/tomorrow for the Villa game anyway. Ornstein wouldn’t sour his relationship with the club over a piece of injury news.
I’m not sure there’s a midweek press conference. But even if there was, Arteta could say nothing / mention Elneny has a slight niggle.
Well, I don’t want to sound to naive, but that’s not how a journalist ought to see his role and I think Ornstein is an actual journalist. He worked for The Guardian, not the Murdoch rags. His current employer, The Athletic, is owned by The New York Times.
I get where you’re coming but it’s not like he’s covering up a scandal for an elected politician here. It’s preliminary info about the extent of an injury to a football player that – due to its timing – could potentially cost Arsenal extra millions on the market (because the cards are very much on the table now). Some amount of Ornstein’s success is surely down to his excellent relationship with the club. You’d guess he wouldn’t endanger that in order to bring an exclusive or simply ‘be right’ in case of an injury confirmation to a substitute player. To… Read more »
No offense George but that sounds very naive ;). The Grauniad and the NYT (and most of today’s MSM) have become mouthpieces for woke, big corp globalism some time ago : just look at their main sponsors.
It may not affect sport sections as much, but I guess not many articles will be found on certain delicate subjects…
Guys like Romain Molina and Philippe Auclair (sp?), for example, are on another level.
People really need to stop using ‘woke’ as a pejorative.
Sorry Blogs, but whatever happened to freedom of speech, mate? People might just have become a tad tired of being lectured on how to think, eat, drink, dress, what to laugh at and how to identify themselves by a society in danger of becoming little more than a Orwellian facist state. Often the lecturers in question are media spokespeople or celebrities who, upon closer inspection, behave exactly the opposite to the virtue signaling they spout. (Present company excluded of course). They’re entitled to their opinions, of course – freedom of speech – but the constant never ending virtue signalling to… Read more »
Qwalitee – my point is the use of the word woke as a kind of insult is nonsense. If being conscientious, caring about others, being kind, being open to diversity etc is a bad thing, then we’re in big trouble. Sections of the media would have believe that being ‘woke’ is bad, when quite the opposite is true. I never said people couldn’t express their opinions, I never told anyone what they had to do, but freedom of speech isn’t an entitlement to say whatever you want without consequences. And if you’re worried about fascism, I’d look more closely to… Read more »
Fair play, mate.
As ever, you are able to make some good, sound, thought-provoking and intelligent points.
And at least you haven’t screamed Twitter-esque abuse at me because I’m a white, English, middle-aged and therefore immediately ‘entitled’ and ‘privileged’ male who clearly deserves no place with the ‘elite’ on this planet.
😊👍🍺
Wtf are you talking about? Do you get your football news from rightwingconspiracy.com?
That’s utter crap.
it was probably info from the post match press conference that was embargoed until a day before the next game, with no midweek press conference.
he’s actually been paid by arsenal to tweet that. in reality, we’ve robotically augmentated elneny’s neck in a way that allows him to score headers from outside the box. the club wanna confuse villa by making it seem like he won’t play, when in fact he’ll be our main striker. i know this cause my son goes to the same grade as the 3rd kitman’s child, and he leaked him all the details. already bet 10k on elneny scoring a hattrick coyg
Half the season is happening in the next 3 months. We better upgrade CM position in a way that raises our ceiling.
This is a crucial position, got to get this one right.
Step up Lokonga and AMN! Seriously, if AMN can’t take this one, what’s the point of him?
AMN is not good enough to play CM. He could be a wingback but does not want to play there. So no point to him staying.
Whitey to the rescue
Interesting 🤔.. I said to my Liverpool mate just before the first game of season Ben white could be englands starting RB for the world and he laughed at me so I’d like him to continue just for my ego
Yup agreed ..I was thinking exactly the same thing after the Fulham game. He could be a really solid option there for England at the World….. I am not sure if there are any RB out there playing as well as Ben now. Of course someone like Trent is good for FPL points becoz of his attacking power but defending wise I personally don’t rate him that high. Trippier and Walker would be Ben other competitors but I can seriously see him nailed that spot if he continues to do what he is doing now especially against the bigger teams.… Read more »
Brother Egg….So so intelligent bro..not so so intelligence.
And so so focused ya…not so so focus…
Hey you know what, I dont mean to be a Grammar Police..So lets just forget bout it..after all, what do I know, I’m just a rotten egg.
Get Tielemans in asap!
And play Xhaka as DM? Better to sign a proper DM, like Douglas Luiz.
Or play Lokonga at dm and Tielemans at cm
That’s a good shout.
I reckon £25m, which probably means Villa will want £30m – but still within our price budget.
And he’s Brazilian!! 😂
We could do a lot worse.
Good call. 👍🍺
I’ve been saying this all fucking summer.
😞
He isn’t that good
And your solution is…..?
GET TIELEMANS DONE
If Leicester have any sense, and I suspect they do, they will accept what the market is offering. Let’s hope we get that bargain.
If they have any sense, they would know we are now in need and the price has gone up
Tielemabs is not a cover for our dif midfield position
Well who do you suggest that is
Cannot believe this is getting downvotes.
For some people finishing 5th last May because we were missing sufficient quality in the centre of midfield has already been deleted from their memories.
Tielemans in not a #6 and is not direct cover for Partey. There must be more than one DM inthe world that we can go after. What about Malinkovic-Savic? He’s a proper #6 destroyer, very similar to Partey.
He is staying at Lazio.
And Stan is not going to fork out what it would take to prise him away.
Otherwise we’d have signed him ages ago.
Better this happen now and not in 3 days time I guess. May force a decision they may have been waiting to make next summer.
If Arteta wants to prioritise a winger could we see some kind of reconciliation with Maitland-Niles? He wants to play centre midfield, no reason why he can’t play six games in the Europa.
We still need to offload Bellerin, Cedric & Nelson.
AMN has not shown in the chances he’s had he’s up to the job unfortunately. He’d be ok for the Europa but not the premier league – would prefer to see xhaka and zinchenko in the middle if partey is still out for Wednesday and would expect the club to bring in another CM in light of this news while the window is still open.
Hearing it’s a fractured sarcophagus, wish him a speedy recovery!
🙏🏾
Sarcophagus or Oesophagus?
woosh
😂
That made me laugh out loud. The wife asked what’s so funny, I told her and she just rolled her eyes. No sense of humor, that woman.
Great opportunity for Sambi.
Mate, he’s a lovely guy, but he’s not nearly ready yet. Not at the level we need him to be. Youri Tielemans is clearly the answer here. I just wish the club would stop dithering over this one and finally get it over the line. It really could be the difference between success and failure this season. Otherwise, as far as the defensive midfield is concerned, we are right back in April again. This one has been staring the club in the face all summer. Quite why it’s got to this stage is a mystery – but very Arsenal all… Read more »
Nah. Tielemans train left the station 2 months ago. Plus, he’s looked shit last 4 games.
Tough it out with what we’ve got, get mo healthy again and wrap tp in cotton wool. Meanwhile, get a winger or striker in.
The trouble is, you’re then praying that Xhaka and Zinchenko can stay fit.
They are the last decent pairing with both Elneny and Partey out.
After that, you’re looking at Sambi, AMN and dropped points.
Tough it out? You said it!!
That stinks. Elneny has been so dependable. Wishing him a speedy recovery!
Tielemens price +5million
I dont buy the idea of using lokonga.
Ben white can perfectly play in that position, let tomi take his position and everything would be in order.
Can he though? I mean I don’t know… but getting out of trouble with the back to the opposition is at least unknown quality for us if he has it.
Lokonga can turn opponents
He’s not ready yet!
He was out of his depth when called upon last April and May. Which is why Arteta replaced him with Elneny.
I don’t mean this in a bad way, but what is the point of Lokonga? Nobody seems to trust or fancy him at all, wouldn’t it be better for him to go out on loan and for us to buy a first team CM?
He does need to go out on loan. He’s not up to speed in the Premiership.
Not a side wanting top four anyway.
Sambi is not very good. Sad to say but he’s behind nuno in terms of being ready and we already shipped nuno out!
What about Zinchenko at DM? Wasn’t part of the attraction to buying him that he can play many positions well, DM included?
He was an AM and a LB for City.
He’s good but he can’t be asked to fill in for everyone that picks up a knock.
Exactly. Zinchenko. He is a class act & perfect for Centre Mid.
Play Granit at DM with zinny in Granit’s role…
That’s the better option of the two. That works for me.
Xhaka in front of the back four and Zinchenko in a more forward role alongside Odegaard.
That could be fucking awesome.
Elneny injured couple of days before the window shuts, well I never and yuri Teileman linked as our next signing, couldn’t make it up could you. It’s not as if we are short of midfielders but the story paints a worrying picture. Mainland Niles Laconga even Tavares could have fitted in maybe even Ben White seing how we have Tierney all are k own to play different positions. Arteta will not be worried we have recruited in numbers for cover. Absolutely no need for panic.
Tavares? DM?
That, in the words of Del Boy, is like leaving your pet cow with McDonalds to look after.
The club does some stupid things and we fail to see them bcos of short term success. Neto signed a 5yr contract back in March and was always going to be expensive… Wolves are even doing a favour by asking for 60m.. given that Antony is Being sold for 100m euros, fofana 75m, or is it Gordon being taaged 80m. They ve been talking to Neto reps for two months and they re just realizing they can’t pay the sum? That’s stupid….. We ve been hearing about tielemans for like forever, they haven’t made any bid and they haven’t approached… Read more »
Maybe a bit extreme but I would understand the frustration IF we didn’t make at least one more high quality signing in midfield. Without it they’ll fall short of expectations again. I’m utterly convinced of this. TP always breaks down when we need him and if he’s out for a significant period of time this is not a Ben white, AML sticking plaster hole. It’s a major hole which will cost us points. Not just in terms of individual performance, but the whole cohension of the team. We nearly saw that against Fulham. Plus we know the injury gods only… Read more »
This sounds a little too critical of our transfer policy, don’t you think? Odegaard (brilliant addition), Tomiyasu (brilliant), Ben White (brilliant), Ramsdale (brilliant), Lokonga (tbd), Nunes (tbd, but probably not a success); Gabriel Jesus (brilliant), Zinchenko (brilliant), Vieira (tbd), Marquinhos (tbd). You might want to include Saliba! too.
I think they deserve a little trust.
Jason, would you like us to be Fleeced?
Have some trust.
Top post well said. For all the genuinely good work that Edu and Arteta have done during the summer, this point blank refusal to even make a formal bid for Tielemans has been puzzling to say the least. If a last minute bid is forthcoming then fine – but more fool us if we don’t sign a decent DM as cover and/or alternative for Partey and Elneny by the end of the window. As I said elsewhere, it’s only taken four games for our lack of quality depth in the DM department to be woefully exposed. Come on Arsenal. Sort… Read more »
Well it sure went quick from “everyone’s fit” to injury crisis!
Get well soon Mo
There will certainly be more injuries and probably the odd suspension coming down the track. Will our squad cope, perhaps with another addition before the deadline? It’s asking a lot from a group of young players who haven’t, on the whole, “been there and done it” yet as many of the players at other teams have. Fingers crossed.
If I’m being honest we probably need to temper our expectations for the season a little. The fixture schedule is going to be so overloaded, and (outside defence) we don’t have great depth yet
Caicedo mode loading….
A quick recovery for Mo – this forces a move for a new CM ⚽️
That’s the licence to print money issued for any club we’ll be wanting/needing to buy from then.
We should seize this opportunity (actually having time to act) by signing a long term replacement for Partey – Caicedo.
Yes, he’ll be expensive but he looks like the next Kanté.
Probably cheap wages atm….sign him on a 6 year deal 🔥
(obviously we won’t, just sayin’ )
Surely Zinchenko can cover Partey in midfield if needed and then Tierny plays left back ?
I’m thinking that the answer if fit is Zinchenko… with Tierney at LB or Ben White, with Tommy at RB..
or of course, buy Tielemans
Well said.
One or two good options there. And yes, we need to get Tielemans in.
It hasn’t taken long for injuries to begin to be a worrying factor. There’s only a few days left to do any business now of course. Potential selling clubs will certainly be aware of our situation so negotiations could become very tricky the longer this drags on. I think Edu will need all his skills to get a deal done.
Yep.
This might be good boys
Erm….how….?
I really want to see Lakonga get his chance, but the problem is he is not suited to the main holding role.
The problem is that he’s not ready for the Premiership yet.
I’d like to see him get his chance too. On loan somewhere.
I see the comment section is in soft panic mode already. Players will always get injured, but the squad is strong. Hope Mo comes back soon, but let’s not forget he’s just a backup.
I think the problem is that the guy he’s backing up is also injured, as seems so often to happen unfortunately.
So, who are you expecting Arteta to play alongside Xhaka tomorrow night…?
An answer, there was none…….😂
If the Injury Gods don’t smile on you, even two players in every outfield position isn’t enough.
Ben White DM with tomiyasu back to RB?
I thjnk we,definitely need to strengthen DM by next season when elneny leaves on a free and partey is injury prone. Question now is do we get a DM or a CM? Can lakonga perform well enough in the no.8 place to cover Xhaka?
Azeez?
Focus on bringing in that left footed wide forward. Use internal solutions for the dcm role.
Yeah….like we did in April and May…?
That ended well, didn’t it?
Elneny is injured and we’re all scared. I guess he’s really important after all. But honestly, y’all know we’re in soup right?
We need to forget Tielemans, he is not the type of player we need. If we are to sign anyone from Leicester, it has to be Ndidi
Yes, Ndidi 😉
Despite greedy behavior from agent/father in this transfer window so far, I’d get Grillitsch on a free transfer now. Similar profile to Partey, smart passer of the ball, and an actual holding midfielder/#6.
Time to simply grit our teeth and fork out the 40 mill Leicester want for Tielemans.
Exactly.
Bad timing… I can see Xhaka returning to DM in Partey and Elneny’s absence. Possibly Sambi or Smith Rowe in that left 8 role unless we spring for another midfielder.
Arteta has never, and will never play Xhaka as the lone 6
FFS.
Get Tielemans in and stop piss balling about over a few lousy quid.
Four games in and we’re already stretched to breaking point in the defensive midfield area.
You’ve had MONTHS to get this Tielemans deal done, Arsenal.
For the love of God, just do it!!
It’s funny how you moan about our lack of depth in defensive midfield now that our 1st and 2nd choice options are injured but want to replace them with an attacking midfielder. Not many teams will have 3 choices for each position let alone be daft enough to buy an attacking midfielder to cover.
And your solution is…..?
I’ve been mentioning our lack of depth in the defensive midfield department all summer, pal. I’ve also wanted Arsenal to sew up this deal for Tielemans, which would have given us immediate adequate cover for tomorrow nights game against Villa.
Sambi is not ready at this level – and I really don’t want to have to see mistakes, clangers and dropped points in order to be proved right. A lot of people on here think that’s all I care about – when actually it’s Arsenal that I care about.
Don’t we all?
Honest question, is Tielemans a defensive midfielder? I thought he was touted as a left 8 replacement for Xhaka, or is it that Tielemans comes in and Xhaka moves to the DM role?
I’ve always thought him to be a box to box midfielder.
Yes, it would mean that Xhaka would have to return to a deeper lying midfield role, but it’s a damn better solution than Sambi – who isn’t ready yet and the pie in the sky big names that any fool can trot out, knowing full well that Kroenke won’t stump up the cash for.
I’ve yet to see a single person on this thread, who has turned their nose up at Tielemans, come up with a realistic target that we could add to the squad before the window closes.
If you’re ok with Granit at DM, then why not Zinchenko to cover Granit current role, and KT continue at LB? Easy…that’s why we bought Zinchenko, for his versatility.
Yep, that’s a fair shout.
Cool, thank you, just interested to see where you were coming from.
Personally I think Xhaka has been a bit of a revelation in that more advanced role (mainly helped by Zinchenko) so moving him back to accommodate Tielemans seems odd. Perhaps we could use that Tielemans money instead to subsidise funding for a Partey back up.
Such as?
I think a fit Zinchenko can play that role ( and play it well). And from the way Zinchenko celebrated our win against Fulham, he should be fit for our next game. Hopefully to tide us over till Partey is fit again. Sadly, i cant see how Partey can be fit for a long time.
That is an option – but I’d prefer him to be played at LB – and that’s coming from a massive KT fan.
We have Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira to temporarily play cm b4 Partey or Elneny returns.
Smith Rowe is a winger/forward, whilst Vieira is an attacking midfielder.
Neither of them have the physicality required of a DM.
…Or seek the two. The situation with the wing has not changed, has it?
Can anyone say…. Big Ben White?
Get better Mo. Melo on loan?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t AMN man of the match last time he played CM?
jup – against NOrwich – never got the chance again – ANM has got the talent…don’t know about “the attitude” which is something Arteta values a lot..