Arsenal reportedly rejected a late transfer bid from Galatasaray for midfielder Mohamed Elneny on the Turkish Transfer deadline day.
According to the reports in Fotomac, Turkish giants Galatasary were very keen to sign Arsenal’s 29-year-old midfielder Mohamed Elneny and were in for him and a few other potential targets until the final hours of the Turkish summer transfer window. They even made a late approach to persuade Arsenal and acquire Elneny’s services but couldn’t reach an agreement.
Galatasaray initially decided to give up on the pursuit for Mohamed Elneny but re-opened the negotiation to complete the last gasp move on Wednesday, which is the deadline day for transfers in Turkey.
It looked like the transfer switch was back on after fresh claims from Turkish outlet Tavkim stated that an ‘agreement in principle’ was in place between both parties after Galatasaray tabled a €2.5 million bid plus a further €2.5 million in add-ons.
However, with now the Turkish window finally closed, it’s understood that Arsenal knocked back all approaches from several suitors and held onto the Egyptian. Mikel Arteta views the Egyptian international may have a part to play this season. That is why the north London club opted not to sell Elneny despite him entering the final year of his contract.
After arriving at Arsenal from Swiss club Basel as a talented enforcer back in 2016, he slipped down the pecking order under previous manager Unai Emery and was even on the verge of leaving the Emirates permanently at one point in time. But he enjoyed a resurgence under Mikel Arteta, appearing 41 times in all competitions last season.
It is befuddling why Arsenal haven’t accepted the bid, especially after the arrival of Albert Sambi Lokonga, which adds more depth in midfield. That coupled with Ainsley Maitland-Niles not leaving, Arteta has enough cover in midfield to the likes of Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka.
However, Xhaka has been fairly inconsistent recently and has had disciplinary issues. Thomas Partey, meanwhile, has been injury-prone since arriving at Emirates. So, one can understand why Arteta & co. have decided to hold on to Elneny as another fallback option in the midfield department for the season.
But with the Egyptian international’s contract running out in less than a year, they might have missed out on an opportunity to make some cash from his sale and they now run the risk of losing him on a free transfer in the summer of 2022.
