Arsenal currently have the youngest squad in the Premier League with an average age of 24.3, according to Transfermarkt.
Despite this, one of their older players that we think the club and Edu should offer a new deal to is Mohamed Elneny.
The north London club signed the midfielder back in the 2016 January transfer window from Basel in a deal worth £5m.
Since then, the Egyptian has gone on to make 148 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions, chipping in with five goals and 10 assists.
With his current contract at the Emirates set to expire next summer, even though the club have an option to trigger an extra year to his deal, we think the club should consider offering him a new contract to keep him in north London beyond that.
Last season saw the 30-year-old highlighting his strengths on the pitch by ending the campaign with a higher percentage of successful passes (93.5%) than any other Arsenal player.
In addition to that, only two other players in Mikel Arteta’s squad ended the season with a higher percentage of successful pressures than the Egypt international (35.2%), which shows how useful he can be off the ball as well as on it.
To further highlight what he offers Arteta’s side, former Gunners manager, Arsene Wenger, had this to say about the £50k-per-week player previously.
He said: “Elneny is a very strong and active player. He’s a player with a modern style of play and who always gives his best for his team. Elneny is a very tactically-useful player. He is very active inside the pitch and what strikes me the most is how he protects his team.
“His input within the team is great, not in terms of goal creation because he’s not the type to have the final touch before the goal. But because of how helpful he is in the build-up. Elneny’s style of play adds protection to the team.”
Having also been described by Owen Hargreaves as a player that offers “something different” to Arsenal, Elneny has shown how much of a useful squad option he is.
Taking all of this into account, it should be the club’s priority to keep hold of the midfield figure for as long as possible, even if that means offering him a new deal.
