Why should Leicester City sign Mohamed Elneny from Arsenal
According to a report in Sun Football, Arsenal are ready to offload fringe midfielder Mohamed Elneny and want to pocket around £15m for the Egyptian. It is believed that fellow Premier League club Leicester City could make an offer for the player and let him take an escape route from north London.
The 26-year-old is yet to start a league game for the Gunners, however, he has played few cup games and in the Europa League. He is currently injured but will be back in the fold before the January transfer window.
He penned a new contract earlier this year that would have kept him at Arsenal until 2022, but with the change in manager and the change in philosophies, Elneny doesn’t look like a part of Unai Emery’s plans.
As mentioned above, Leicester are interested in getting the services of the Egyptian. Here’s why Claude Puel’s men should make a move for him in the winter window:
Elneny’s calming influence in midfield
The Foxes have made a decent start to their season, having collected 17 points from 12 games and find themselves 10th in the table. This is a good return, bearing in mind that they played Manchester United and Arsenal away and were slightly unlucky to not get draws out of those games. Even when they were beaten by Liverpool at home, they played some good football.
Regardless, Puel is making his team play an attractive brand of football and getting the desired results. However, they are a bit short on depth and quality in central midfield. Wilfried Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy are regular starters in a midfield pivot, with only Vincente Iborra as a backup.
Leicester often struggle to stamp their authority in the game when the midfield is all over the place. And Iborra hasn’t really impressed this season, warming the bench more often than not.
Hence, it will make sense from the Foxes’ viewpoint to buy a midfielder who possesses quality on and off the ball and strengthens the central areas of the field.
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Thus, they should make a £15m bid for Elneny and get him from Arsenal. From the player’s point of view, he can get a regular starting place at the King Power Stadium, which doesn’t seem to be the case if he stays put at the Emirates. Hence, for him, moving elsewhere would be ideal as well.