A claim has emerged on Aston Villa and the possibility of them bringing Mohamed Elneny to the club during the January transfer window...
What's the talk?
Journalist Pete O'Rourke has suggested that the Arsenal central midfielder could be tempted with a transfer to Villa Park due to his lack of minutes with Mikel Arteta's men this season.
When asked if the club could pursue a deal for the Egypt international, the reporter told Football FanCast: "Yeah, it would be an interesting one, this one.
"Obviously, Unai Emery is trying to reshape things at Villa Park, with this being his first transfer window at the club, and, like most managers, you try to turn to players you know you can trust.
"He's worked with Elneny during his time at Arsenal. Elneny is not getting much game time at The Emirates right now as well so he might be interested in a move away in search of regular first-team football."
Leander Dendoncker upgrade
Emery could land an upgrade on current Villa central midfielder Leander Dendoncker by swooping to reunite with Arsenal gem Elneny this month.
If the Spaniard can convince the Egyptian to ditch The Emirates for Villa Park then he could be an excellent, experienced, addition to the squad to give the team a boost heading into the second half of the campaign.
Dendoncker arrived from Wolves in the last transfer window but has failed to have much of an impact on the pitch. The Belgian has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.74 across 14 appearances in the Premier League for the club, which places him 13th in the squad.
He ranks in the worst 1% and the best 85% of midfielders for progressive passes and pass completion percentage in Europe's top five leagues over the last 365 days amongst his positional peers, which indicates that he plays too many safe passes but is fairly reliable in doing so.
Elneny, meanwhile, ranks in the best 62% and the top 1% in those statistics respectively, numbers that show he is far more progressive than Dendoncker with his passing.
In turn, that could improve Villa's build-up play in creating chances for their forwards, with the £55k-per-week gem being one of the least error-prone passers of the ball in Europe.
The 30-year-old, who has only started once in the Premier League this season, also averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.82 in 14 appearances in the top flight for Arsenal last term.
Therefore, the midfield maestro could be an upgrade on Dendoncker because of the average performance level and quality of passing he could provide on the pitch for the Villans.