ARSENAL are cautiously optimistic that Mohamed Elneny has not suffered a serious long-term injury which could force them into an emergency signing before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
The 30-year-old Egyptian international incurred a hamstring problem during Saturday’s 2-1 win against Fulham and is definitely out of tomorrow’s visit of Aston Villa.
Elneny completed the full 90 minutes against Fulham but complained about the pain after the match.
The club’s medical staff are still assessing the full extent of the injury and are currently unable to say how long he will be out of action.
But they are hopeful that Elneny will only be sidelined for a matter of weeks rather than months.
And until they know the full extent of the damage they will not be plunging back into the transfer market to sign last-minute reinforcements.
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Manager Mikel Arteta is anxiously awaiting updates on the situation as Thomas Partey is already ruled out by a thigh strain suffered in training last week.
That leaves Arsenal light for tomorrow’s game, with Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga the only recognised central midfield players currently available.
But Oleksandr Zinchenko can play in midfield and is in line to return to the squad tomorrow after missing the Fulham win with a slight knee issue.
Partey is also expected to be available for selection again in a couple of weeks’ time, possibly for the home game against Brentford on September 18.
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But his previous injury record does not exactly inspire confidence and Arteta will not want to take any chances with the transfer deadline now just a matter of days away.
He had been looking at the possibility of signing another winger following Nicolas Pepe’s loan move to Nice but was not expecting to get anyone in this week.
But if the prognosis on Elneny proves to be worse than anticipated, the club could be forced to move for another central midfield player as a last resort.
They have been credited for months with an interest in Leicester’s Youri Tielemans but have yet to make an offer for the Belgian international.
And Leicester’s stance on selling the player has changed now that they have just banked £70million from Chelsea for Wesley Fofana and have virtually no time to sign a replacement for Tielemans before Thursday’s 11pm deadline.
With Arsenal currently top of the table with the only 100 per cent start to the season in the country, Arteta is naturally keen to maintain the momentum against Villa tomorrow.
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He says: “Villa are a really physical team with a lot of presence and they are very dangerous in the box and on set-pieces.
“They have a big squad, top quality players and a good manager, so we are expecting another difficult game.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
