Arsenal transfer news: Arsene Wenger rejects claims of agreeing Mohamed Elneny deal, plays down January moves

Arsenal have been linked with a £5m move for Basel midfielder Elneny but Wenger says his side are not close to completing any January deals

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal have not made a move for Basel's Mohamed Elneny (Getty Images)

Arsenal fans hoping to see new faces at the club in 2016 will be disappointed to hear that manager Arsene Wenger played down talk of dipping in the transfer market in January after being linked with a move for Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny.

The Gunners crashed to a heavy 4-0 defeat to Southampton as they saw the chance to top the Premier League table slip through their grasp in embarrassing fashion, with former England manager Glenn Hoddle among those to criticise the player for choking when the pressure was on.

Hoddle also believes that the club’s need to strengthen in January had a negative impact on those selected at St Mary’s, but Wenger dismissed his claims and said that his squad will be much stronger once he starts to get his injured players back.

"That's always the question you get," Wenger said. "We have many players who are injured and will come back soon.

"Buy, buy, buy, buy is always the solution that people see.

"I think it's true that we couldn't score, but we conceded goals (against Southampton) and we have enough defenders."

Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin head Arsenal’s extensive injury list which also features long-term absentees such as Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere, but it is Coquelin’s absence that has hit Arsenal the hardest.

At present, Mathieu Flamini has filled in for the Frenchman, but there are doubts over his ability to play in the defensive role and reports linked Arsenal with a move for Elneny on Saturday morning.

The Mirror claimed that Arsenal had already had a bid of around £5m accepted for the Basel midfielder, but Wenger rejected the reports and said that the club are not near to any new signings ahead of the January transfer window.

He did, however, call on his player to mount an immediate response to Saturday night’s defeat by beating Bournemouth on Monday evening, despite having less than 48 hours to prepare for the match.

"I believe what I say to my players is between my players and myself," Wenger added.

"These players have fantastic spirit and they can show that in 48 hours. We are in a job where we have to respond. We want to respond from disappointments.

"Unfortunately, there's no possible career without disappointment. Nobody, not even the best players in the world, can have that.

"It's down to how you respond and I trust my players to respond in a very strong way on Monday."


 Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud respond to the 4-0 defeat by Southampton
 (Getty Images)

Despite missing the chance to top the Premier League table, Arsenal can still do so on Monday given that leaders Leicester don’t play until Tuesday, when Manchester City visit the King Power Stadium. With just three points separating the three clubs, any one of them can head into 2016 at the top of the table, although Wenger has set about on improving his side’s performance before addressing their position in the table.

"I said before the game, whether we are one point behind or one point in front it is not too important," he said.

"It is the quality of our performance that counts and we were not good enough to win the game (against Southampton).

"We have just to look at that. On the other side, we can't dwell too much because in 48 hours we play again.

"We are disappointed and frustrated, but there's only one way to respond in 48 hours."