Sky Sports pundit and former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas believes Mohamed Elneny is the “perfect fit” for the Gunners midfield.
Elneny completed his move from Basel this week for a figure in the region of £5million.
The Egypt international will come straight into the squad to provide essential cover for Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, and Nicholas said to Sky Sports News HQ that the three-time Swiss Super League winner is just the type of player Arsenal have needed.
Elneny is a perfect fit for Arsenal and someone I’ve been screaming out for.
At the start of the season Arsenal needed two positions filling, goalkeeper and a holding midfielder. They signed Petr Cech but never filled the other position, which was a bit of a mistake for me.
Coquelin is robust and competitive and gets booked a lot, Mikel Arteta is not the player he was and Mathieu Flamini has done really well but he’s too similar to Arteta. Eleneny fills that void.
He has a powerful shot from distance, he’s very controlled and eats up the ground and there’s an elegance about him.
Arsene Wenger’s side have coped well since Coquelin was sidelined in November and Cazorla a week later.
The only defeat since then came in a 4-0 drubbing away to Southampton, and but for a Joe Allen last gasp equaliser, it would have been the only dropped points in the other six games since the Spaniard was injured in the draw with Norwich.
A draw at Liverpool, however, isn’t a disastrous result, and Nicholas expects the 23-year-old new signing to free up Aaron Ramsey.
Elneny’s arrival frees up Ramsey to push further forward.
It will take him time to get used to the Premier League and I’d be tempted to leave him on the bench against Stoke. But he’s definitely got the right temperament and knowledge and will have some real superstar players alongside him.
I’m delighted. He’s the perfect age and I’m sure he’ll be a fine asset for Arsenal.
