‘Has some really good qualities’: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hails rarely-seen £50k-a-week player

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken highly of Gunners midfielder Mohamed Elneny, but admitted he’s not sure whether he’ll stay at the club this coming season.

The Egypt international has made just 46 appearances for the Emirates Stadium side since joining from Swiss outfit FC Basel in 2016 for a reported £7million (The Independent).

Last season, on Unai Emery’s watch, Elneny left Arsenal for a season-long loan at Besiktas, becoming a mainstay of their squad and making 36 appearances in all competitions.

Of those, 27 came in the Superlig, Elneny scoring one goal and registering four assists as the Black Eagles finished third in the table to seal Champions League qualification.

Now back at Arsenal, the 28-year-old started the pre-season friendly against MK Dons and opened the scoring with a long-range effort, capitalising on a mistake by the opposition goalkeeper.

When asked by the Arsenal media team about Elneny, Arteta replied: “I know Mo really well. I played with him, so I know what he can be and I know his strengths and weaknesses really well.

“He’s a really positive character to have around and he has some really good qualities as well and like anybody else, in the moment that he is with us, he will be given all our support and the best possible environment for them to perform as high as they can.

“We don’t know [if he will stay]. The sixth of October is still too far, as I said. It’s pretty unpredictable to know what’s going to happen.”

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Elneny largely played a bit-part role under both Arsene Wenger and Emery before leaving for Besiktas and, with William Saliba taking his shirt number at the start of the season, it remained to be seen what plans Arteta had for the Egyptian.

It didn’t take him long to impress the manager, however, and although Arteta remained coy on the £50,000-a-week man‘s future, his kind comments suggest that he’ll be given more chances to stake a claim for a first-team place.

After all, it’s worth remembering that Arsenal legend Gilberto Silva told France Football in April he thought Elneny was the closest thing the Gunners currently have to him or Patrick Vieira – so he’s definitely worth giving a chance.