Stoke City vs Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny may be perfect for the Britannia bearpit

The Egyptian can give the Gunners something they have been lacking

Arsenal's new signing Mohamed Elneny (Getty Images)

After spending a good 10 minutes talking about how hostile the Britannia Stadium is, and how difficult Stoke City are to play against, Arsène Wenger was asked the obvious question now that this arduous trip just happens to be the first after a new foreign signing was confirmed.

Is this fixture the best way to introduce 23-year-old Mohamed Elneny to English football after his £10million transfer from Basel, or is it better to spare the Egyptian and ease him in more gently?

Wenger paused for a moment before recalling how he introduced Robert Pires – and how that can offer a third way.

“You have two ways to approach it: throw him straight into the bath and say, ‘Okay, let’s show that you can swim’, or say ‘Look, sit next to me and get a little taste of what it is to play here. Like I did with Pires. After half an hour, Robert said to me, ‘is it always like that?’”

From what everyone who knows Elneny says about him, he is always ready, and would not be cowed by such a match. The Egypt midfielder may have admitted that he has felt “fear” before debuts before, but he has never shown it.

He may actually be what Arsenal need in such a game, and what they need in the team as a whole right now. On Tuesday night at Liverpool, after a run of games in which Arsenal’s midfield had played well without Santi Cazorla, Wenger’s side seemed to struggle without that composure in midfield. The frequent loss of possession probably played a big part in Joe Allen hitting a late equaliser.

Elneny’s old club faced a similar challenge against the same club in last season’s Champions League, as Basel led Liverpool 1-0. The midfielder was brilliant, calming the game down with his assured use of possession, and helping the Swiss side see out a fine win. In the Europa League this season, no player other than Napoli’s Mirko Valdifiori has hit more passes per game.

Elneny is a young player who shows unusual maturity with the ball. He earned the first of 39 caps for Egypt at the age of just 19 and his international manager from 2011 to 2013, Bob Bradley, praises his composure.

“Neny is a good all-around midfielder with ability to play long passes and score from outside the box,” Bradley told The Independent on Sunday. “He reads the game well and has made strides physically since he came into the national team when he was 19.”

Much has been made of how Elneny’s youth coach father, Nasser, gave his son the right football grounding by encouraging him to kick a ball and live with it from the age of three, but he gave him something else too: his genes.

Elneny’s father was also an admired professional for Baladeyet Al-Mahalla and was renowned for his ability to win the ball and instantly turn the move into an attack. Those who have watched both Elnenys have been struck by the way the son has developed a similar ability, but gone further with it.

He has also gone further with a family dream. Elneny’s mother passed away a few years ago, and it was always her dream to see her son play for Al-Ahly. Elneny was there for 11 years as a youth player before moving to El Mokawloon and, from there, to Basel.

The Swiss side’s officials had travelled to Egypt in 2013 to sign Elneny’s team-mate and future Chelsea player Mohamed Salah, who they knew well. The suspension of Egypt’s domestic football after the Port Said stadium riot – in which 74 people died when El Masry fans attacked those of Al-Ahly – meant there were few opportunities for other players to impress, but that also meant the El Mokawloon chairman was all too willing to recommend Salah’s team-mate to Basel too.

Then just 20, Elneny impressed in a trial. Basel’s sporting director, Georg Heitz, was amazed by the midfielder’s engine and energy, saying his running reminded him of a middle-distance athlete.

Although it took him a little time to adapt to life in Switzerland, it didn’t take that long to show his quality on the pitch. Elneny soon became renowned for his consistency and mental strength, how he never let his performance drop regardless of how a game was going. That could be key for Arsenal. His family were proud of how he achieved even more than his mother could dream of, and his father was pictured hugging Elneny with tears in his eyes after the 1-0 win over Liverpool.

Bradley feels much the same. “I’m proud of him and excited for him to get this opportunity,” he said.

Wenger evidently thinks it is more than just an opportunity. “I expect him to develop into a very strong player because he has both sides of the game, he can defend and he can attack and that’s the way we want to play in midfield.”

He can also give Arsenal something they have been lacking in midfield.