Footballer Profile: Mohamed Elneny
Mohamed Elneny comes from a footballing family. His father was a youth team coach for Egyptian team Baladeyet Al-Mahalla and Elneny recalls in an interview The Guardian that his father demanded that he slept with a football at night. He goes onto say that his father was the driving influence in his journey to become a professional footballer and started coaching him from the age of three. The coaching and sleeping with footballs worked as Elneny made his way up the ranks to become a starting team member of El Mokawloon SC. The 2012 Port Said Stadium Riot disrupted his time playing in Egypt. 74 people were killed following a clash between the supporters of El Masry and El Ahly. As a result of this disaster the Egyptian government shut down the domestic leagues for two seasons.
Luckily for Elneny Swiss team FC Basel had noticed his talents and he was invited to their training camp in January 2013. He made his official debut in February and was part of the team that won the championship that year. Tribal Football reports that Elneny told them in an interview, “I was there for three years and also learned how to be more punctual both on and off the pitch, and not to fear any opponent we face. I liked the club and enjoyed my time there.”
I love ??? fcbasel I'm very proud pic.twitter.com/pt9LamNsQG
— Mohamed ELNeny (@ElNennyM) May 30, 2015
In January 2016 he was bought by Arsenal for £6 million and quickly became a regular in the team. Playing for FC Basel, Elneny had developed a reputation as a long distance goal scorer. However, since playing for Arsenal he told ESPN FC that manager Arsene Wenger has asked him to shoot less from distance and focus on being more of a team player. Despite toning down his long distance shooting his first goal against Barcelona in the Champions League was from outside the box. This season he has struggled for game time with Here in the City stating that he has started on the bench in five out of seven of Arsenal’s league games. Despite taking on a more limited role he has proved popular with the fans that have praised his performances and work rate.
Thanks Allah Glad to be a part of the lineup that passed the first step towards the League Cup .. Hope we will keep moving forward pic.twitter.com/iwYmnlvoSw
— Mohamed ELNeny (@ElNennyM) September 21, 2016
In this year’s Champions League, Arsenal were drawn in the same group as Mohamed Elneny’s old team FC Basel. The first game was played at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal won 2 – 0 with Theo Walcott scoring both goals. Elneny started on the bench and came on in the 70th minute. Reporting on the match for sport betting website Betfair, esteemed Champions League columnist Mike Norman wrote that Arsenal, “never looked in any danger and could have easily won by a bigger margin.” This strong form has continued in the Premier League. After losing their first game of the season to Liverpool, Arsenal have remained unbeaten as they pursue their first Premier League trophy since their 2004 title winning season. They are currently second in the table, one point behind Manchester City.
Back to Egypt ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/AWMuyMljIM
— Mohamed ELNeny (@ElNennyM) October 3, 2016
Elneny also plays for the Egyptian national team and was part of the National Under-23 squad that reached the last eight of the 2012 Olympics where they were knocked out by Japan. He is now a regular in the national team having made 40 appearances and scored 3 goals.
