Mohamed Elneny Details The Nketiah Collision Which Caused His ACL Injury

By The Editor
on 19th November 2023

Elneny is back to full fitness after a tough year…

Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny has returned to full fitness in recent weeks after suffering an ACL injury in training earlier this year and the Egyptian detailed the incident for the first time.

Shortly after the calendar resumed following last year’s World Cup, we learned that Elneny suffered a serious injury in training to compound the niggling muscular injury picked up by Thomas Partey.

It was a series of events that led Mikel Arteta to delve into the transfer market and bring in Jorginho – weeks after having multiple offers turned down for Moises Caicedo.

Elneny is now back to full fitness and in contention, making his first appearance since the injury in September’s Carabao Cup tie at Brentford.

When asked about the incident which caused the biggest injury of his career, the 31-year-old revealed that an innocuous collision with Eddie Nketiah resulted in an ACL rupture.

“After Oxford we had training ahead of the Tottenham game,” Elneny told Arsenal.com.

“At the end of the session, I had the ball and was running with it. I looked up, I didn’t see anyone so decided to take another touch.

“Eddie was behind me – he didn’t touch me but took the ball in front of me and I kicked his leg. My balance was on my body, my knee actually. After training, I went inside with the doctor. There was no swelling or anything.”

Elneny revealed he was sent him after a scan and after being told the results would take 45 minutes, it was hours before he received any correspondence.

The former Basel man narrated that after going for a walk, he knew his fate once he saw Gary O’Driscoll – the former club doctor – driving towards his house to deliver the news in person.

“I was panicking. I couldn’t stay at home. I walked outside and saw a car behind me. I thought “who is that?” and saw Dr Gary, who had literally just arrived. He hugged me, and I looked at him and said “ACL?” He said it was.”

The club took the classy decision to extend Elneny’s contract shortly after his injury to allow him to recuperate without worrying about being a free agent with a serious injury.

Now, back to full fitness, one wouldn’t be surprised to see the midfielder seek a new challenge in January.