Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny celebrates scoring their third goal with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during the match between Arsenal v Olympiacos March 11, 2021. REUTERS
Arsenal's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny said he is happy some fans' dubbed him the "Egyptian Messi" after his recent superb performance with the English Premier League side against Olympiacos in the Europa League last 16.
Elneny helped Arsenal last Thursday claim a 3-1 win over Olympiacos away from home in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals last week.
The win sets up the Gunners for a relatively easy mission when they hosts the Greek side in the second leg today.
The Egyptian star revealed that he is ready to extend his stay at Arsenal in comments during the pregame press conference before the Olympiacos clash.
"I am always happy to listen to the fans' appreciations as I do my best to please my supporters, friends and family," Elneny said at the press conference.
The 28-year-old Egyptian international returned to Arsenal in the summer transfer window of 2020 season after completing a one year loan spell with theTurkish side Besiktas.
"I expected my return to Arsenal because I always prefer to play with big team,and I am happy to be here" Elneny said.
"When I was playing on loan at Besiktas, I was thinking of a return to Arsenal as well as booking a regular place in the squad as I do now,"
"The 3-1 victory at Olympiacos may ease our mission in the second leg but we still expect a big game as they are a very good game so we have to concentrate well on the game,"
Elneny's contract with Arsenal is to expire by the end of the ongoing season so the Egyptian star has expressed his desire to extend his stay in England if the club's management asked him to sign a new contract.
"My loyalty is always to Arsenal and if the club asked me to extend my contract, I will agree immediately," Elneny said.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: