While Newcastle United signed Bruno Guimaraes last month, it is emerging that the club had enquired about the availability of Arsenal midfielder Mohammed Elneny.
The Magpies manager Eddie Howe revealed that Guimaraes was one of their ‘primary targets’ with the former Lyon star making his debut as a late substitute during Tuesday night’s win against Everton but the club had options if the deal for the Brazilian failed.
According to the Egyptian international’s agent Alan Nazmy, Elneny whose contract will expire in the summer had offers from all over Europe but all were blocked by Mikel Arteta.
“Mohamed Elneny doesn’t follow social media directly, but sometimes someone from his circle would send him news about him or criticism. The player’s contract expires at the end of the current season, and Arteta rejected all offers that came for Elneny and asked him to stay with the team.
“Newcastle United, Valencia, Lyon, and the largest known Turkish clubs, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, wanted to sign Elneny, but in the end, Arteta and the Arsenal management refused,” Nazmy said as quoted by the Sports Witness.
Apart from Elneny, the Magpies were unsuccessful in approaches for Sven Botman and Diego Carlos of Lille and Sevilla respectively.
