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Why wasn’t Mohamed Elneny in the Arsenal squad to face Barcelona?

Elneny

Mohamed Elneny was absent from the Arsenal squad against Barcelona on Tuesday night, prompting fans to ask one question and one question only — why?

The Egyptian defensive midfielder, who arrived from Basel for a fee in excess of £5m in January, was eligible to face the Catalan giants at Emirates Stadium but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger opted for Mathieu Flamini instead.

[WENGER: WE WERE TECHNICALLY AVERAGE AND NAIVE]

Flamini’s dismal cameo saw the Frenchman come off the substitutes bench to concede a penalty in a matter of 45 seconds, sparking mass debate on social media as to why he was picked over Elneny in the first place.

[‘FLAMINI IS ONE OF THE WORST MIDFIELDERS I’VE EVER SEEN’ – TWITTER REACTION]

Arsenal’s defensive midfield duo played the full 90 minutes in the goalless draw with Hull City in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Gooner Talk understands that Elneny, who was given two games off to spend with his pregnant wife earlier in the month, was fully fit for the 2-0 Champions League last-16 defeat and didn’t make the squad due to Flamini’s ‘European experience’.

The 31-year-old came to prominence as an emergency left-back as the Gunners reached the 2006 final, but a decade on it appears as if his Arsenal career is coming to an underwhelming end.

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