Mohamed Elneny: Arsenal midfielder father denies son’s move to Egyptian outfit Al Ahly in January transfer window
Mohamed Elneny’s father, Nasser Elneny, has come out to deny reports of negotiations between Al Ahly and them ahead of a reported move next January.
Elneny has been struggling for playing time with the Gunners this season, having managed only 54 minutes of Premier League football. His last game came against Liverpool last Saturday when he came on as a substitute for Thomas Partey in the 84th minute.
With his contract expiring at the end of the current season, the Egyptian has been linked with moves to Turkey giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, with former teammate and Arsenal legend Mesut Mesut Özil trying to persuade him to join him at the latter.
Meanwhile, the player’s agent, William D’Avila, confirmed that the midfielder is open to leaving Arsenal with Galatasaray being his preferred destination.
However, Nasser Elneny dropped a bombshell revealing that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wants the player to remain at the club while saying that his wish is for his son to play at Cairo giants Al Ahly.
This led to many reports across Africa linking Elneny to a return back to Al Ahly despite the Reds not being able to match his current wage at North London. Hhowever, Nasser debunked these rumours saying that his son will continue in Europe for the foreseeable future.
“It’s really difficult for Mohamed Elneny to return to Egypt in the upcoming period,” Nasser Elneny said.
“All that has been said on Al Ahly signing my son is not true at all,” he added.
Mohamed Elneny started his career at the youth sector of Al Ahly, but never managed to make it into the first-team, before being released by the club to join Arab Contractors in 2008.
The 29-year-old has then had stints at FC Basel, Arsenal, and Besiktas, making over 315 appearances in Europe, with 135 of them coming with the Gunners, in which he scored five goals and made eight assists.
Galatasaray previous contact with Arsenal
In September, Galatasaray enquired about Arsenal’s 29-year-old midfielder Mohamed Elneny, when the Turkish transfer window was closing few days ago.
The Turkish outfit made contact with the Premier League side to ask about the possibility of signing midfielder Mohamed Elneny last summer.
Elneny, who joined Arsenal from Swiss club Basel in 2016, had just a year remaining on his contract in north London and have not yet extended it.
Arsenal might be tempted by the prospect of trying to recoup a small transfer fee, rather than seeing him potentially leave for free January or next summer.
The Egypt international has previous experience of playing in Turkey having spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Besiktas.
After falling out of favour under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery, he featured 41 times in all competitions last season, in Mikel Arteta’s first full campaign in charge at the Emirates Stadium.
Should he moved to Galatasaray last summer, he would have joined a host of players with Premier League experience.
The Galatasaray squad included the likes of former Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin, Crystal Palace left-back Patrick van Aanholt, one time Liverpool and Fulham forward Ryan Babel, and ex-West Brom striker Mbaye Diagne.
After failing to walk into the heart of Arteta, the Egyptian has reportedly preferred to leave Arsenal where Galatasaray are within the ranks this January and could battle Al Ahly for the midfielder’s signature.
The Turkish side have already captured former Zamalek forward Mostafa Mohamed in a loan deal and are poised to activate the player’s contract to a permanent deal this summer.
While Mostafa could be on the way out of Galatasaray at the end of the season with Serie A side Atalanta said to be interested in the Egyptian International, Elneny could join in flip side of the coin.
