Arsenal have confirmed that they have extended the deal of Mohamed Elneny. The Egyptian was out of contract at the end of the season, however, following a string of impressive performances in Thomas Partey’s absence, Arsenal have seen fit to extend his deal.
The extension the club have given Elneny extends his deal by a further year, with the option for a second year.
Given Arsenal’s European status for the forthcoming season, Elneny will likely play a big part, at least in the early stages, in the Europa League and will also likely form a big part of the club’s League Cup run.
It was thought for many weeks that Elneny would depart the club in the summer. Given his general lack of play time and the club seemingly unwilling to extend his deal, Elneny was expected to leave the club in the summer, likely off to Turkey, where he has long since has suitors.
However, in recent weeks, Elneny has proven himself to be indispensable to Mikel Arteta. His usefulness as a defensive midfielder, coupled with Arteta’s love has secured him a new deal.
Elneny was signed by Arsène Wenger back in 2016 and has since been on the periphery of the team. Elneny failed to establish himself as a regular starter under Wenger and was unable to convince Unai Emery to hand him a regular spot either.
Under Mikel Arteta, Elneny played a number of games last season which proved very useful in the club’s European run, but this season, he was out in the cold.
With rumours of a deal being struck with Beşiktaş or Fenerbahçe, Elneny surprised Arsenal fans by remaining with the team beyond transfer deadline day.
Since then, Elneny has proven his chops to Arteta.
The thinking seems to suggest that Arsenal would prefer to have midfield depth, particularly depth that Arteta can trust and Elneny fits the bill perfectly. His recent pairing alongside Granit Xhaka has been very encouraging to watch in recent weeks.
Arsenal are still expected to strengthen their midfield this summer. The future of Granit Xhaka will likely inform how many players Arsenal recruit, but the club’s reported interest in both Rúben Neves at Wolves and Youri Tielemans at Leicester City, means that Elneny will likely slip further down the pecking order all the same.
With Elneny’s deal out of the way, the club will soon begin to put plans into action over what is expected to be an exceptionally busy summer at the Emirates Stadium. Gabriel Jesus is thought to be very high on Arsenal’s priority list, while a move for São Paulo winger Marquinhos is expected to be completed shortly.
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