KingFut’s Mohaned Ghanem provides a preview of the season to come for the Pharaohs Abroad in the English Premier League for the 2019-2020 season.
Four Egyptians will be plying their trades in the top division of England this season – Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny, Aston Villa’s Mahmoud Trezeguet and Ahmed Elmohamady, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Mohamed Elneny – Arsenal
The 27-year-old midfielder joined the London based club in 2016 under former manager Arsene Wenger. He has made 89 total appearances for the Gunners, but he has seemingly fallen out of favour under new manager, Spaniard Unai Emery.
The former FC Basel star made only 8 Premier League appearances and 7 Europa League appearances last year. He missed out on the team’s USA summer tour as a result of Egypt’s involvement in the 2019 African Cup of Nations; however, he was not named in the squad for their latest friendly against FC Barcelona last week.
While the Gunners did lose Aaron Ramsey on a free transfer, the centre midfield position is jam-packed. Players vying for a starting spot in the centre of midfield include Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, and Dani Ceballos. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, while primarily a wide player, has been deployed in middle of the pitch at times. Add in the revelation of Joe Willock during the preseason tour, and Elneny may find playing time hard to come by.
Adding to the uncertainty regarding his future at the club, rumours have surfaced that Turkish giants Galatasaray are interested on bringing Elneny to Istanbul on loan for this season. He may need to explore this opportunity to return to regular football this season.
