Arsenal have confirmed Mohamed Elneny is set for an extended spell on the sidelines as a knee injury has proven to be more serious than initially feared.
On Tuesday afternoon (Otherwise known as January transfer deadline day), a statement via the club's official website read: "Following an injury sustained in a recent training session, subsequent assessments have confirmed that Mohamed Elneny has a significant injury to his right knee.
"Mo has had successful surgery in London and will be ruled out for an extended period of time. A more detailed timescale will be established once the early stages of rehabilitation have been completed. Everyone at the club will be offering Mo all the support he needs and working hard with him so he can return to action as soon as possible."
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Elneny has missed Arsenal's last three games across all competitions - the wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United as well as the FA Cup fourth round loss at the hands of Manchester City - and in truth, Mikel Arteta did raise concerns about the midfielder potentially missing the remainder of the season.
"There are concerns, especially [because] Mo is a player who never complains about anything," the Spaniard told football.london at the end of last week. "But let’s see.
"We need some more cover in midfield ideally if we can. In this market it’s pretty complicated to do that. The most important thing is that we get the performances and the time on the pitch that we need with the players we have available today that are already really good."
Arsenal's decision to announce the extent of Elneny's injury does point towards the £12m deal for Chelsea midfielder Jorginho being completed imminently after the club pivoted to the Italian international when it became clear that Brighton & Hove Albion would not be selling Moises Caicedo.
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