Arsenal Debate – Should Elneny stay or go?

Ever since joining Arsenal from FC Basel last January, the Gunners midfielder Mohammed Elneny has always been on the fringes of Arsene Wenger’s squad and has so far failed to make an impact in the Premier League. On signing his new contract at the club, the Arsenal boss admitted that he will have to let some players go in order to bring in reinforcements as the squad is a bit ‘heavy’ at the moment, and I believe that Elneny is one of the players that Arsenal must cut their losses on.

While the Egyptian is a neat and tidy midfielder who works hard, the problem is that he does not offer much more. Now although he hasn’t been handed too many opportunities in the Arsenal side, it is fair to say that he hasn’t particularly impressed when given an opportunity. Despite not having any horror performances under his belt, you kind of get the feeling as to what the player can offer and surely, Mohammed Elneny is not up to the Arsenal standard.

But apart from Elneny’s failure to impress, an even bigger reason as to why I feel the Egyptian has to be let go is that Arsenal need to sign a midfielder to replace Santi Cazorla this summer. With the Spaniard now confirming that he will be out at least until November and more complications in his rehabilitation expected after as many as eight surgeries, surely Arsenal need to sign a player in the mould of Santi, and I believe Elneny should be the player making way considering that he offers next to nothing to the team, even failing to make it to the matchday squad on most occasions.

Even Jack Wilshire has proved this season that he can bring something to the team if he stays fit, having made 27 appearances on loan at Bournemouth before suffering a leg break. While one can never be sure about the Englishman, it is unlikely that he will be let go considering he’s still quite young and counts as a homegrown player. Looking at the transfer market right now, Marco Verratti seems to be the perfect player Arsenal could sign to fill the shoes of Santi.

AT

23 Comments

  1. A part from being midfielders cazorla and verratti has nothing else in common so please stop this nonsense about him being santi’s replacement.

    Santi is a pure playmaker like ozil but has taken on a more defensive role to the betterment of the team.. Isco is the one who’ll be a like for like replacement for santi but it’s not going to happen especially after his performance a couple days ago in the UCL final.

    Verrati would be an ideal partner for xhaka because unlike Ramsey he’ll bring more discipline and bite to our midfield and he also possess better technical ability.. Niajgolan of Roma would also be a welcome addition to our midfield to partner xhaka.

  2. Elneny is just like Denilson….no footwork, and very poor technically……Elneny, Walcott, Gibbs, Giroud, debuchy, Jenkinson must all be allowed to go…bunch of below average players most especially that Walcott that has no football brain… I can’t just see him get in this new formation… He doesn’t what it takes to excel in this new formation… He must be sold asap

  3. Elneny was arsenal player of the month for three consecutive months. Do you remember good how he was playing or conveniently forgotten? He’s never even had a solid run of games although he’s the type of player who improves his performance with each game. Did I mention his work rate? He never stops running. The xhaka-elneny axis also won the last fa cup.

  4. I like Elneny and think he is more reliable than Coq who offers little going forward. Xhaka had a few decent games late in the season against teams who had started the summer holidays. It remains to be seen if he can raise his level next season. If he does not manage to do that combined with his tendency to run into red cards and suspensions, Elneny might come in handy.

  5. With our injury record, I wouldn’t risk selling Elneny. Because, as usual, we’ll be depleted somewhere around November and we’ll need players to fill in.

  6. I’ve been hoping for this article for a while now possible, while we are torn over let Coq Jenks Walcott etc what of enemy. In such much as I have a soft spot for the guy I just can’t say what he brings to this team can anybody please help me out.

  7. Elneny is a decent squad player and with our injury records and no. of games we have to play (hopefully not getting out in R-16 of europa league) Elneny does offer a great chance to rest some key payers for key matches and even his workrate is a plus side for our team

  8. The players that should be let go first are the ones that won’t actually play any games due to perpetual injury.

    Jack Wilshere is just another Diaby. Given his talent it’s certainly a shame, but that doesn’t change the fact that he won’t actually be playing any games, so what’s the point in paying him and using-up a place in the squad?

    Santi Cazorla. Yes, I like him just as much as everybody else. But the same applies… Will he play? No. His body has now gone past being able to sustain the rigours of being a full-time professional athlete.

    Mertesacker said himself that he can’t handle the position in the team any more, from a physical perspective.

    There – That’s 3 places freed-up already, from players that won’t be playing next season anyway.

  9. Elneny is a very reliable player; he is always ready to help the team when needed the most;
    in addition how much did you spend to add him in? he was never given a chance. he was the player of the month for three months. the most accurate passer in the league. He had an excellent half a season 2015/2016, instead of making a supper star out of him; they went on and bought Xhaka ( a good player; but not that much better than Elneny), for no reason they decided to side line Elneny. He could of have been a super star if he was given the chance. Give him the chance to play or sell him; I am sure lots of teams will be happy to have him.

  10. GO – Elneny offers sideways passes and little else and should be shipped out this summer so we can get a replacement for Santi who has problems with injuries and I doubt will be the player we know once he is fit. This will be nearly halfway through next season and then it wiil probably take the rest of the season for him to find his form which won’t help Arsenal in our bid to be PL champions as instructed by Kroenke.

  11. Keep him. He is not an amazing player however he is reliable, works extremely hard and guarantees a 7/10 performance whenever he plays. A successful team needs a few players in this mould. Right now we have too many players who lack reliability and consistency e.g. Ramsey, Giroud, Walcott etc. Elneny is a good squad player.

    1. You seem to have a grasp. Reading here I think the prob is some people don’t understand the importance or the difficulty in having reliable squad players. I’m not even talking about second choice, second choice should be almost first team quality and some of the time it is. This lad is down the pecking order, but doesn’t complain, doesn’t ask for loans, gets on about his business and tries for the team. Someone above mentioned how you know that you get a certain level of performance from him, that is important when he’s holding the fort, and doing it without much game time is a difficult act. I think people just don’t get that, they sort of believe that everyone in there was bought to try and make the first team their own. Wenger knew where he seen Elneny, he prob hoped Elneny could surprise him, but he had these ideas on Elneny all along.

      1. While I agree that ElNeny is a good squad player, I do doubt to how much Wenger watched him.

        When I think about it…

        Wenger wanted Xhaka 6 months prior to us buying ElNeny, we buy ElNeny and he plays, getting player of the month a few times. Transfer window opens and Wenger is straight away after Xhaka. We get Xhaka and ElNeny game time drops a lot.

        Considering how cheap ElNeny was I would have expected some kind of bragging from Wenger after putting in some great months, Wenger has bragged about Holding and from reports it was Wenger who wanted Holding even though we had not long bought Chambers… And look where Chambers has ended up.

        I dunno.. feels like Wenger got given some players and Wenger tried but didn’t like and got new versions that he picked and they get his favor.

        Perez falls into this catagory, not done bad for scoring but where was his game time?
        Welbeck as well. Yes he played a bit at the end and Giroud was bench but Giroud keeps getting Wengers favor.
        Ok, so no new player that Wenger picked but look at the rumors and bids we are making for CF now… Kinda screams that Wenger wants a top starting CF and sick of his choice doesn’t it?

  12. For the sake of the Europa cup I believe we still need him. I think he is a good player who can do a decent job deputising for Ramsey, Xhaka or hopefully a “quality” Midfield signing.

    With the rigorous nature of the Europa Cup, we’ll need a large poll to succeed. Let’s look at the experience of two premier league participants in the UEL last season:

    1. Man Utd- Had a large rooster on the injury list playing due Thursdays Sundays fixtures. They succeeded due to the decent backup they had.
    2. Tottenham- They showed marked improvement in the league after the UEL elimination. Fatigue looks to have been the contributing factor.

    Take it or leave it, 2017/18 season would be a very rough season for Arsenal. We would need to be mentally strong, discipline technical & tactical wise as well as having a strong armoury of players in order to survive through periods of injury & fatigue.

    I’m not stating a claim for deadwoods to stay, but I feel reliable players like Elneny might come in handy when the need arises. Remember his game at the Nou Camp against Barça …

  13. I wonder how and why a modern soccer would rate Wilshire over Elneny. Wilshire is a liability to any football club including Arsenal.
    Elneny in due time , will be a Supa dupa midfield dynamo if given the chance. The problem with Elneny is our hardcore / all knowing coach. Le Coq and OG12 should be sold ASAP to get the best outta Perez and Elneny.
    Wilshire, Gibbo, T14 and OG12 should exit Arsenal doors to pave way for fighter jets. Europa to champions League is tougher than winning the Champions League.

  14. Let him and SC go because the latter won’t get well but could keep him as a coach for the kids coming through

  15. I like ElNeny but if Wenger isn’t going to use him unless forced to due to injuries or suspensions then sell him and get a player who Wenger wants and will use and push our starting 11.

    Tolisso looks good, Gueye has done well, Verratti could be ideal for Xhaka… I dunno who in all honesty but sell ElNeny along with Wheelchair and use their wages to get in a player who will be pushing for that starting position. It would free up around £160k per week and that would be enough for a top young talent, De Byrne is on around that! Okay different pos but it shows what type of quality it can pay for.

    We will not find a buyer for Cazorla(injury) and he has extended his contract, he is staying.
    Ramsey done well and we all know Wenger will have thought he might still be the one…

    Coquelin may not be a fancy player but solid in defence and shows good fighting spirit, I bet in Wengers head he will be competing with Xhaka for that def role, he has been an Arsenal player since 2008 and not long signed a new contract… Oh and Coquelin currently classes as HG.

    Xhaka, Coquelin(HG), Ramsey(HG), Cazorla, New signing.
    Ox can play there as well and he can be rotated in that spot for game time while being backup for RWB, assuming we keep Bellerin and Ox. We can bump up the numbers here with M-Niles, he has played holding CM and RB, I bet he could be cover for RWB/RB and CM.

  16. We need to upgrade the starting 11. Elneny is a quality, dependable fill in. Keep Elneny, sell Walcott, sell Ramsey, and sell Welbeck. Let Perez play some or sell him too. I would love to get Naingollan. Doesn’t really fit the Arsenal profile though.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors