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Written by Martin Graham | 26 April 2022
Reports stated that Mohamed Elneny has decided to stay at Arsenal and is awaiting Arsenal’s decision on a new contract for him.
Mohamed Elneny’s contract will expire in the summer and he can move to other clubs as a free agent. He has been with the club since 2016 having signed for Arsenal from Swiss club Basel for £5m.
Despite being a staple of their midfield in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 season, he has now been relegated to a key role at the club as Mikel Arteta favors the likes of Thomas Partey and Albert Sambi Lukonga over him in the holding role alongside Granit Xhaka.
However, he is back in the team after Barty was injured and his crew changed by Arteta. The midfielder has started Arsenal’s last four games on a rebound and appears untouchable.
Elneny wants to stay at the club he has called his ‘family’ to fight for his place, and he made this clear in his comments on the match after Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.
“If Arsenal say: ‘We want you,’ I don’t think about leaving,” Al-Masry told reporters when asked about his future. “It’s been my family for six years. I love this club.
“I always like a challenge and give 100 percent all the time. I don’t decide who plays, but I keep training to show how good I am and to get him (Arteta) to play with me. If I don’t play I will keep going until I get my chance.”
“Contract and stuff, I’m just waiting for the club to decide what they want.”
“It was a long wait for me” says Elneny if he ran in the team
The 29-year-old has been one of the Gunners’ most consistent performers in the past few weeks. He produced consecutive impressive performances in the ongoing round against Manchester United and Chelsea, links which Arsenal won 7-3.
Prior to his current round of matches, he played only seven Premier League games for Arsenal, and was mostly a favorite in the cup competitions, all of which crashed early on.
He talked about his journey back to the team and thanked Arteta for the opportunities he had.
“I am really happy to be one of the key players in these two matches,” Elneny said. “I did everything in training to be one of the key players in every game and I got my chance and I think I did well. Most importantly, we won both games.
“It has been a long wait for me but you have to believe. I have to train hard every day, focus all the time to wait for the opportunity and when it comes you have to give everything just to keep it.
“He (Arteta) only trusts me and has put me in the big games, and I have to thank him for that. I will keep working and not think about anything else, just focus on my performance to help the team reach our goal.”
Arsenal is currently fourth, two points behind its rival in north London, Tottenham Hotspur, but with a goal difference less than its rivals.
They travel to West Ham United for another derby in London hoping to keep their top four hopes alive which will take them back to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 season.
Elneny hopes to help the Gunners achieve that goal and, with his recent comments, will be with them as they capture the best of Europe once again.
