Mohamed Elneny to Arsenal: Arsene Wenger says 'work permit problems' delaying transfer, tips Lionel Messi to win Ballon d'Or

Elneny is expected to complete a £7.4m transfer from Basel this week with the Gunners preparing for Wednesday's visit to Liverpool

Mohamed Elneny is set to complete a move to Arsenal (Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger has predicted “one of the most active transfer windows ever” as he nears Arsenal’s first January signing with Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny expected to complete his move to London later this week.

Wenger is preparing his squad for Wednesday’s important Premier League clash with Liverpool, with the Gunners sitting top of the table and making a winning start to their FA Cup defence courtesy of Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Sunderland.

Arsenal’s season has not gone smoothly though, with a number of injuries to key players leaving them short in midfield prompting Mathieu Flamini to enjoy a run in the first-team and defender Calum Chambers being used as an emergency holding midfielder at the weekend. With Francis Coquelin not expected back from injury until the end of next month, Wenger has already moved to bring in more options in midfield, with Egypt international Elneny set to complete a £7.4m transfer to the Emirates in the next few days.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Anfield, Wenger addressed more questions on Arsenal’s transfer business and admitted that he expects a number of clubs to be active in the remainder of the transfer window.

“I believe many clubs will be active. It could be one of the most active windows ever,” admitted Wenger.

When pushed on the deal to sign Elneny, Wenger said: “We hope to have things done this week. I'm optimistic about the case. There are a lot of work permit problems and special paperwork on his visa.

"As long as it is not definitely signed you have to be cautious."

Wenger also revealed that while he will have both Mesut Özil and Flamini back from minor knocks, the match against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool will come too soon for Alexis Sanchez as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

"We should Özil and Flamini available - we will test [David] Ospina,” he said, with the goalkeeper suffering from a minor groin strain. "He [Sanchez] is always keen to play but if you listen to Alexis he can always play even if he is injured.

"He is very close, if you look at him training he is very close."

With the Ballon d’Or set to be decided later today when Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo discover who has been voted the best player over the past 12 months, Wenger once again expressed his disliking for the award and tipped Messi to win back the crown he lost to Ronaldo two years ago.

"I'm a big enemy of the Ballon d'Or,” Wenger said. “Who will win it? You know as well as I do that it will be Messi. Barcelona won everything this year."