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Mohamed Elneny

LONDON. — Arsenal have signed Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny from Swiss side Basel for an undisclosed fee, the English Premier League soccer leaders announced yesterday.

“Arsenal have signed Mohamed Elneny from FC Basel,” the club announced on their website. “Everyone at Arsenal would like to welcome Mohamed to the club.”

The club disclosed neither the length of Elneny’s contract nor the transfer fee, but British media reports suggested they had paid around £5 million for the 23-year-old.

Speaking after his side’s 3-3 draw at Liverpool on Wednesday, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: “He has joined us and we will see if he can qualify for Sunday (against Stoke City).”

Elneny published a video of himself on Instagram showing some of his goal celebrations for Basel, and wrote: “Thanks Allah for everything @arsenal.”

A full international, Elneny is an intelligent reader of the game in midfield while offering tireless energy in the middle of the park.

The Egypt international had been with Basel since 2013, helping the club to three successive Swiss Super League titles in that time. He has played 28 times this season, scoring six goals.

His performances in Europe have been particularly impressive in that time, starring in victories against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.

As they target the Premier League title Arsenal now have extra cover in midfield at a time when Santi Cazorla (knee), Francis Coquelin (knee), Jack Wilshere (shin) and Tomas Rosicky (knee) are all sidelined.

The Gunners sit top of the English Premier League table level on points with Leicester after the six-goal thriller.

Arsenal led 3-2 thanks to an Olivier Giroud brace and an Aaron Ramsey effort but were denied victory after Joe Allen equalised in the 90th minute. — AFP.