Mohamed Elneny is currently Arsenal’s longest serving player, having joined the club from FC Basel in January 2016. Elneny has just amassed 161 appearances in his seven-and-a-half seasons with the club, winning one FA Cup, two Community Shields as well as being a losing finalist in the 2018 Carabao Cup and 2019 Europa League. In his time with Arsenal, Elneny has never really commanded a first team berth, and as always served as a loyal backup in central midfield, coming to see out games.
However, in recent campaigns, Elneny got an extended run out in the team (41 appearances in 2020/21 season) thanks to Thomas Partey suffering a litany of injuries in his fledgling Arsenal career, which has kept Arsenal fans on the edge in regard to his fitness issues. Despite being a complete model citizen and epitome of consistency in the club, Elneny had some bad luck last season, suffering a thigh injury in preseason, that saw him miss the early part of the campaign and some important Europa League group stage matches that he would usually feature in. Things went from bad to worse for Elneny when the club confirmed that he had to go under the knife to mitigate a niggling issue on his knee, that would keep him out for a very long time, and clearly beyond last summer when his contract was meant to expire.
With Elneny’s injury challenges, Partey also having an injury scare that has saw him miss matches in that campaign, as well as Albert Sambi Lokonga moving to Crystal Palace on loan last season, Arsenal had to make signing a central midfielder a priority, and everyone could attest to the drama surrounding the pursuit of Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, before the Gunners wrapped things up for Chelsea’s Jorginho right at the death. Arsenal sorted out their midfield challenges with the marquee signing of Declan Rice, which turned out to be a fantastic piece of business.
With Elneny set to depart the club last summer, Arsenal offered him a contract extension by an additional year, which allowed the midfield recuperate and rehabilitate from his knee injury using the club’s medical facilities, as well as put up some appearances on the pitch before his final hurrah in the summer of 2024. This was a great gesture from the club, proving that they are willing to stand by their players through difficult times, and it augurs well for Mikel Arteta, who believed that Elneny has a role to play in this exciting project currently brewing at Arsenal.
It was reported that Elneny reportedly took a pay cut on this extension, which shows how much he wants to be at the club,
“I’m so happy, I love this club and our supporters so much and I’ll give everything to help us be the best we can be, every day I’m here.”
“It makes me so proud to have represented this amazing club since 2016. The spirit and togetherness we have in our squad right now is so positive and I’m so happy I have extended my contract.”
Elneny’s contract extension shows the togetherness within the club, and the players will be happy to have their oldest serving lad around for a little while. This season, Elneny found first team football few and far between, making only six appearances with his only confirmed start taking place in the dead rubber Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven.
It was evident that the club was not going to renew ties with him, especially with how sparingly he featured, and he posted a message on X thanking the fans for all the support over the years,
“I’m here today to send you a message, to say goodbye and thank you for everything you’ve done for me, your love, the support and the kindness.
“I’m really going to miss you so much, you will be in my heart forever. I wanted to say how much I love you and how much you mean to me and I will never forget the way you supported me.
“I’m going to see you on Sunday at Emirates Stadium to say goodbye face to face. See you, Gunners.”
With Arsenal fighting till the very end for the Premier League title, it’s unlikely that Elneny may take to the pitch for his lasy hurrah, but maybe with the Gunners having a comfortable lead with minutes to spare, Arteta might just hand him out a chance.
Here’s to Elneny, professionalism, loyalty, service.
Sayonara.
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