Mohamed Elneny has revealed Arsenal were actually scouting his Basel teammate Fabian Schar but went on to sign him later.
Arsenal had sent scouts to scout the defender but got impressed by the midfielder. Elneny joined Arsenal in January this year for a reported fee of £5m. Elneny has settled well after his much-hyped transfer and has given Arsene Wenger more options in the midfield.
The Egyptian said, “I was very happy when I joined Arsenal but I asked one of my friends how the negotiations started and if they had scouted me before.
“He told me that Arsenal officials were scouting Fabian Schar in the first place, and that’s when they noticed me.”
Schar made a move to Hoffenheim last year and has been pretty impressive in his debut season.
Elneny went on to add, “All of us at Basel knew that Schar was linked with Arsenal and at every season’s end, we congratulated him as the move was close to completion, according to Schar himself. But afterwards, things changed quickly.
“My agent told me that Arsenal officials came many times to watch Schar but they were impressed every time by my performances and development and they went on to sign me instead.”
