Arsenal Can Sign The Mohamed Elneny Of Strikers

Arsenal’s continued patience is leaving them in a situation where they need to get creative with their striker signing. Luckily, one man can help them.

Anybody that read through my slideshow earlier today knew this was coming and where this is going, but I wanted to expand more on why Arsenal should be looking for the ‘Mohamed Elneny of strikers’ and who exactly that would be.

I think that Mohamed Elneny actually played his part perfectly last season. Wenger was not ready to drop a wad of cash on anyone to bolster the midfield because he already had his eyes set on signing Granit Xhaka in the summer. He was the perfect solution and nothing else would do. It all makes sense now. At the time, it was horribly frustrating and people were outraged. But it all worked out. At least tentatively.

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That was helped by the fact that Elneny was actually a very slick signing. He wasn’t a bruiser or a versatile, all-purpose midfielder, but he did one thing right – he controlled the ball. It was something Arsenal’s midfield had been having troubles with all year, so he was the perfect signing until a more long-term, versatile option could be achieved. Plus, he was incredibly cheap, costing Arsenal just £5m.

At this point, Wenger needs the same at striker. With Olivier Giroud set to miss some time and Welbeck out until February, Wenger needs to fill a hole without dropping so much on a striker that he feels compelled to start him all the time. Especially if Wenger doesn’t feel that he is the right fit for the team. He doesn’t make rash decision like that. Besides, Giroud and Welbeck are actually a pretty solid duo and there’s reason to be excited with Chuba Akpom and Donyell Malen coming through the ranks.

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If anything, he just needs a bit of a hold-over for a year, maybe two, and if that hold-over has upside, then it’s a bonus. It’s frustrating, because we aren’t seeing that big name striker signing like we expected, but just because it doesn’t make total sense now doesn’t mean it won’t later. Again, think of Elneny.

Arsenal will have to address a long term replacement for Giroud soon anyway, so we know that there will be a big time striker on the horizon if Akpom doesn’t work out. If Akpom does work out, then wonderful, Arsenal has created their own future.