Saudi Arabia vs Egypt: Mohamed Elneny does nothing to bolster his reputation in Russia with Arsenal future uncertain - scouting report

The Arsenal midfielder allowed his country's final World Cup match to pass him by as Saudi Arabia outplayed Egypt in Volgograd

Egypt’s miserable World Cup campaign ended on a thoroughly unsatisfying note in Volgograd, as they were beaten 2-1 by a Saudi Arabia side regarded by many as one of the weakest teams in the tournament.

Mohamed Salah could have ensured a different outcome had he not missed a gilt-edged chance in the first half after lobbing Yasser Al-Mosailem to open the scoring, but the damage for Egypt might have been worse but for 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who spectacularly saved one of two Saudi penalties.

Already eliminated after defeats to Uruguay and Russia, Egypt had nothing more than pride to play for in Volgograd, but they displayed very little of it. The lacklustre performance reflected particularly badly on their other Premier League stars – most notably West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi and Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny, who was startlingly ineffective in midfield.

Elneny wasn’t much of a factor in Egypt’s possession play, with Tarek Hamed instead controlling the tempo and direction of passes. More worrying, though, was the inability to shield his defence and sniff out danger that made sustained Saudi pressure possible, resulting in two first-half penalties and a cascade of chances.

Countless times he allowed Saudi midfielders to pass around him and advance the ball into Egypt’s penalty area unimpeded, most notably in the build-up to Fahad Al Muwallad winning an admittedly very soft spot kick from Ali Gabr, Despite covering a lot of ground from one box to another, he invariably ended up where the danger was not.

Elneny’s one opportunity to make a positive contribution arrived in the 71st minute, when Salah’s intelligent dummy allowed the ball to run through to him on the edge of the Saudi penalty area. His wayward shot underlined why he has only five goals to show from 65 international caps.

When he arrived at Arsenal in a £5 million deal from Basel in January 2016, Arsene Wenger claimed that Elneny could do for the Gunners what legendary Bordeaux midfielder Jean Tigana did alongside Michel Platini for France in the 1980s, dominating games defensively from the base of midfield with mobility and technique rather than power.

It seemed an unfair comparison at the time, and Elneny never came close to justifying it. Within six months Arsenal had paid Borussia Monchengladbach £35m for Granit Xhaka to do the same job, and last season was the first in which the Egyptian broke double figures for Premier League starts (11), though he was a more permanent fixture in their Europa League run.

Now, with Wenger gone and Arsenal pursuing a considerably more aggressive recruitment strategy under Sven Mislintat, Elneny appears to be an unwanted relic of a bygone era – a strange notion when you consider that he was handed a new long-term contract by the old regime in March.

Talks to sign Sampdoria defensive midfielder Lucas Torreira are reportedly at an advanced stage and while Sevilla have told The Independent that deep-lying playmaker Ever Banega is not for sale under any circumstances, a release clause believed to be set at £17.6m makes him an incredibly enticing target.

Only 25, Elneny has every reason to think that he will attract interest from elsewhere in the Premier League and abroad if it becomes clear he is unwanted at Arsenal after the World Cup – but a series of ineffectual performances in Russia have done nothing to bolster his reputation.