Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wants to keep Mohamed Elneny in the Premier League until the end of this season, the midfielder’s father tells Shams TV amid reported interest from Turkish giants Galatasaray.
And here we were thinking this was a bit of a foregone conclusion.
Having started none of Arsenal’s 12 Premier League games so far this season – and coming off the bench just three times – Egypt international Elneny looked certain to be on his way out of the Emirates come the New Year.
Especially with a rejuvenated Ainsley Maitland-Niles seemingly moving ahead of him in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order.
Turkish publication Fanatik reported a month ago that Arsenal would consider terminating the final few months of Elneny’s £50,000-a-week contract.
But the 29-year-old’s father, Nasser, shed a very different light on the situation when asked about his son’s future in North London.
Does Elneny still have a future at Arsenal?
“Arteta wants Mohamed to stay,” says Nasser Elneny, via Fotospor. “He may need him in the coming period, so he will stay until the end of the season.”
Unfortunately for Arteta, it seems the player himself has rather different plans.
Elneny’s agent, William D’Avila, admitted a fortnight ago that the one-time Bestikas loanee would relish the chance to seal another switch to the Super Lig.
Besiktas’ Istanbul-based neighbours Galatasaray, who are understood to be leading the race, were described by D’Avila as a ‘very big club’.
Elneny did feature in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, although a six minute cameo in a 4-0 battering will have done little to convince the former Basel ace that he would be better off sticking around until the summer, when his contract is due to expire.
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