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BREAKING NEWS: Arsenal secure signing of Mohamed Elneny

| 14.01.2016
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Matt Haynes | January 4, 2016

Arsenal, 7/5 with Coral to win the Premier League this season, have secured their first signing of the January transfer window with the capture of Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny from Swiss side Basel.

Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed the signing speaking about his chances to play against Liverpool: “He has joined us and we will see if he can qualify for Sunday.”

Strength in depth at good value

The 23-year-old is seen as a clever acquisition by Wenger, with the Gunners light in midfield due to injuries to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, while Mathieu Flamini at 31 simply cannot feature in every match at this stage of his career.

Costing just £7m from the Swiss Super League leaders, this is seen as another value-for-money signing from Arsene Wenger, who has an eye for spotting a business-savvy signings. Elneny is definitely someone who can come straight into the midfield and make an impact and has 36 caps for his country.

Arsenal Training - UEFA Champions League - Group F - Arsenal v Dinamo Zagreb - London Colney

With 144 appearances for Basel, plus 10 goals, Elneny operates as a defensive midfielder – a position that the Gunners are light and he can become a vital squad player, while possibly making all the difference in Arsenal’s Premier League title charge this term.

More to follow?

Wenger has hinted that one more player may follow Elneny to the Emirates in January, though again, this is likely to be a squad player who can help to ease the burden of fixtures, while also adding the requisite quality that is needed.

With Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Flamini all expected to leave the club at the end of the season, it could well be a replacement for one of these, although another defender may well follow, despite the club signing the ever-improving Gabriel Paulista last January.

In the summer, there were calls for a world-class striker, though Olivier Giroud has moved swiftly to deny that Arsenal need attackers, while maintaining they can win the league: “Danny Welbeck will come back in one month and a half. Theo Walcott can play up front, Joel Campbell is doing well with his national team up front.

“If I am less good or get injured, we still have a solution. To be champions in a season – and I know that because I was a champion with Montpellier. You need talent, of course,” he continued.

“But you need a bit of luck sometimes as you cannot always play a fantastic game. All together, we are going to do it.”

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Author

Matt Haynes

A long-suffering Leeds fan, Matt studied Sports Journalism at university, and has a plethora of multi-industry experience. Having worked on behalf of multiple hedge funds and top-tier investment banks in executive search, he has also had a stint with the BBC and the Press Association. Outside of work, he pursues entrepreneurial activities and likes to keep fit.
Although he has interviewed current England manager Roy Hodgson as well as Rafa Benitez and a number of other names, he is honoured to have spent time in the company of Gordon Banks. Matt enjoys cultivating long-lasting professional and personal relationships, is solution orientated, and supports Coral’s sports content provision.