Mohamed Elneny Thread (official)

[Letters]

You seem determined to find the negatives.

I don't think you need to write any more than that.
I should rename him to "Marvin the Paranoid Poster"

[The Emirates Gallactico]

Some very good players have come out of Basle's first team in recent years, Shaqiri like you mentioned, Mo Salah who is doing great things in Seria A even though Chelsea pretty much discarded him, Barca's Ivan Rakitic came from Basle via Sevilla to Barca. I'm not suggesting Elneny is going to replicate Rakitic's rise but Basle have developed some very good players in modern times.

Forgot that Rakitic came from Basel as well. God, I'd love it if Elneny came even close to how good he is. Xhaka is another one who came through the Basle ranks - they've been a great feeder club for mid to top teams in England/Spain/Germany. They've probably got another young talented midfielder on the production line ready to go once Elneny leaves.

To my earlier point, what also probably helped drive down the price is the fact that Basle's season is all but over. They're 10 points clear and will in all likiehood romp home to another Swiss title with or without Elneny and additionally they're not involved in the CL this year, crashing out in the qualifying stages. I suspect a tighter league campaign and perhaps a chance for them to progress in Europe may have made things more difficult and expensive for us.

[IBK]

He here yet?

[I am invisible]

According to that Sky report, he's more box to box and likes to attack more than Coquelin, but I'm not complaining.

But why has he been allowed to leave mid season and for such a small fee?

I've seen him described as defensive, holding and box-to-box so far, but i'd say the most common opinion I've come across is that he's naturally a holding / defensive midfielder who has been asked to add more forward play to his game by Basel, and is turning out to be pretty competent as a box-tobox player too (because of his stamina, tireless running, and the fact that he's started to score a few himself).

It sounds like he has all the attributes that you'd look for in a modern central midfielder - can tackle, can pass (short and long), can carry the ball forward, chips in with a few goals - and he looks like he's technically good enough to be playing at European level, so I think his ultimate success (or failure) as a player for us is gonna come down to his tactical discipline (i.e. if we tell him to stay back and defend, will he do it without getting side-tracked), and whether he's mentally tough enough to handle the step up to the PL and a club like Arsenal? At the very least I think we're buying a solid midfield utility man, who'll be able to provide a bit of cover for any type of central midfielder that we have need of, but I'm hoping that he's being brought in to provide some genuine competition in his own right? Guess we'll have to wait and see on that...

[Letters]

He injured yet?

Fixed your little typo there.

[I am invisible]

It does make me wonder. He doesn't sound like a crap player. Was his contract running or low or was he pushing for a move? He's a young player too.

Possibly a short contract situation? Or maybe it's all relative to how much they bought him for, and the cost of a replacement? Seems like a peanuts fee for us, but they might be able to get a couple of players for that money (and they probably wouldn't need anyone with elite pedigree to do a job in the Swiss league)?

I've also heard spokesmen from Basel talk about their pride at seeing players going on to bigger clubs in the past (they see it as good for the club's image and reputation), so there could be a strategic element here? A club like Basel in a league like Switzerland is never going to attract an established big name... but they can attract a constant stream of up-and-coming talents, if they build a reputation as a willing stepping stone? What (potentially) top young player wouldn't be attracted by them? You're almost guaranteed a few domestic titles, you'll gain European experience and exposure at the highest level from a young age, maybe catch the eye of one of the big boys, and you know the club won't stand in your way or make things awkward, if someone does make a bid?

[Özim]

Some very good players have come out of Basle's first team in recent years, Shaqiri like you mentioned, Mo Salah who is doing great things in Seria A even though Chelsea pretty much discarded him, Barca's Ivan Rakitic came from Basle via Sevilla to Barca. I'm not suggesting Elneny is going to replicate Rakitic's rise but Basle have developed some very good players in modern times.

Agreed but I think they were all pretty well known, Shaquiri and Saleh definitely.

[Özim]

You seem determined to find the negatives about his deal, very strange when you've never seen him kick a ball. Basel are ten points clear, probably heading for their fourth title in a row. We don't know what stage of his contract is at either. As TEG says above, these sort of deals are rarely inflated in price. Part of me thinks you are just waiting for him to fail so you can aim another kick at the manager. I don't see why though, you should have enough targets already.

More a case of being tired of our transfer policy and how cheap we (Wenger) are, it's not like it's an occasional thing either, it's almost every time, he should get a job in the pound shop if he wants to save money.

To be honest though, people will always say great things about new signings, it almost like the feel they have to, I remember when we signed Chamakh and Silvestre and lots of people were creaming themselves over them.

[Letters]

Yeah. Ozil and Sanchez were dirt cheap
It didn't happen last summer - although he clearly tried - but since the money has been there he's been signing far higher profile players and the difference has been obvious.
Although last summer was a bit disappointing Cech was a fantastic signing, the points he's got us already have made a big difference.

I think literally no-one was 'creaming' themself over Chamakh

[Özim]

Yeah. Ozil and Sanchez were dirt cheap
It didn't happen last summer - although he clearly tried - but since the money has been there he's been signing far higher profile players and the difference has been obvious.
Although last summer was a bit disappointing Cech was a fantastic signing, the points he's got us already have made a big difference.

I think literally no-one was 'creaming' themself over Chamakh

Two players out of hundreds, so a case well argued

Not sure he tried very hard to be honest, 3 months and all he can find is a keeper, he should be ashamed of himself, it's not like we don't have money or are a small club.

Not saying this guy is a dud btw, don't know anything about him (noone does), problem is because he is unknown there's a lot of uncertainty and more chance of error. My biggest qualm is how cheap we are almost every time, big club with a non league mentality in the transfer market.

I remember the conversation about how Silvestre was a quality player and about how Chamakh was great and was a key player for Bordeaux.

I just can't wait for the day Wenger walks away personnally, so that we can at last try and spend our money on proven quality some of the time as opposed to spending 95% of our time chasing bargain basement buys.