Arsenal sign Egyptian midfielder Elneny

Arsenal have signed Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny from Swiss side Basel for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League leaders announced on Thursday.

Arsenal sign Egyptian midfielder Elneny

“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 ($7.2 million, 6.6 million euros) 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.”

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.

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.