Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny could be returning to Arsenal sooner than expected in order to complete a permanent transfer to AC Milan, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness).

What's the word?

Elneny, 27. is currently on loan at Besiktas but has not featured in the Turkish Super Lig as much as the Egypt international would have hoped and it appears the deal could now be scrapped.

After only making three appearances in all competitions this season, the aforementioned report has claimed that Milan could be a possible destination for Elneny for a "negotiable" €15m (£13.1m) fee.

The complexities of that process though - whether Arsenal can terminate the loan or will need Besiktas to do so - aren't particularly clear.

Time to cash in

The Egyptian midfielder has been at Arsenal since 2015 after his £5m move from FC Basel and was brought in under Arsene Wenger's management.

Elneny has not played more than 14 Premier League games in a season since his arrival from Switzerland and finds himself pretty far down the pecking order due to the arrivals of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Dani Ceballos over the last few summers.

With the 27-year-old yet to score for the club and having registered only three assists in the Premier League in four years, it's time for Arsenal to cash in on the Egypt international.

There are much better midfielders at the club and even Torreira - a £26m signing - has struggled to get into Emery’s side this season. He has made just two starts in the top-flight.

Arsenal simply don't need Elneny anymore, so if there's a club interested in signing him permanently, the north Londoners should jump at the chance to get the midfielder off the books, even if it takes some manoeuvring with his seemingly unhappy loan employers.