According to reports in The Mirror, Arsenal are keen to hand midfielder Mohamed Elneny a new deal that will keep him at the Emirates Stadium for the long-term, with the Daily Star reporting in 2017 that he is currently earning £40,000-a-week.

What's the word, then?

Well, The Mirror says that the Gunners want to extend the 25-year-old's current contract, which isn't due to run out until 2020, even though they were willing to sell him last summer.

However, with Francis Coquelin having joined Valencia and Jack Wilshere still yet to sign a new deal, the north London outfit are now ready to move to tie the Egypt international down.

How has Elneny done this season?

While he isn't a regular starter, he has done well when he has played and offered something a little different in the middle of the park for Arsenal because of the energy he has and his ability to win the ball back from his opponents.

The 25-year-old has made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners this term, scoring one goal and providing a further two assists, and he has shown his versatility by playing in a range of different positions including central midfield, defensive midfield and even centre-back.

While Premier League outings have been hard to come by, he did play the full 90 minutes in the 3-0 win against Watford last week., where he impressed the Emirates Stadium faithful with his display.

Are Arsenal right to tie him down to a new deal?

They probably are, yes.

While Elneny is never going to be a key first-team starter he has shown how he is a useful and more than capable member of the squad, and they won't want to let his contract run into the last year like they have with some of their other stars.

Nevertheless, the Gunners offering the Egyptian a new deal certainly shouldn't mean that they don't look for a new defensive midfielder this summer, because that is exactly what they have missed in some matches where Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka have played as a pivot and things haven’t worked out.

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