Mohamed Elneny aspires to be a legend at Arsenal little over a year after he joined the club.
The Egyptian midfielder arrived in a £7million deal from Basel last January and has established himself as a regular presence in Arsene Wenger’s squad without ever quite carving out a place in the Arsenal starting XI.
Elneny has started just six games in the Premier League this season but the 24-year-old has lofty ambitions for the remainder of his Arsenal career.
“I want to be a legend at this club,” Elneny told the Daily Mail.
“Like Thierry Henry. I mean, obviously not exactly like him. I have my own personality, my own character. I want to be different to anyone that’s gone before.
“But since I got here, I’ve always had that in mind. I wanted to become an Arsenal legend.”
Elneny is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, who play their final group game on Friday and need just a point against Ghana to qualify for the last eight.
However Elneny is missing perhaps his best chance for an extended run in the Arsenal side this season.
With Granit Xhaka facing a four game ban Arsene Wenger’s midfield stock is depleted, leaving the uncomfortable pairing of Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey to soldier through until their team-mate’s return.
Aaron Ramsey heaped praise on Alexis Sanchez after the Chilean scored Arsenal’s dramatic late winner from the penalty spot for the Gunners against Burnley on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal went ahead Shkodran Mustafi’s header from a corner shortly after half-time, but Andre Gray netted an equaliser for the visitors deep into stoppage time from the penalty spot after Francis Coquelin conceded the spot-kick.
However, it was Sanchez who had the final say, when he stepped up to duly convert his penalty with cheeky chip down the middle after Laurent Koscielny was fouled in the box, despite the defender appearing to be offside in the build-up.
Ramsey was full of praise for Sanchez after he scored his 15th Premier League goal of the season for the Gunners, and the midfielder is hoping to see more goals from the attacker in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking to Arsenal’s website after the game, Ramsey said of Sanchez’s penalty:
“That just sums up the quality and the confidence that he has to do that in the last minute.
“Hopefully he can keep scoring now until the end of the season.”
Arsenal had to show a different side of their character in Sunday's victory over Burnley, according to Laurent Koscielny.
Shkodran Mustafi's first goal for Arsenal looked set to send the Gunners towards a comfortable victory at Emirates Stadium.
But Andre Gray equalised from the spot in the 93rd minute, prompting frantic scenes on the touchline as Arsene Wenger was dismissed.
Alexis Sanchez eventually fired home a last-gasp 'Panenka' penalty to secure a crucial victory for the hosts and Koscielny is adamant Arsenal proved they can dig in and grind out results when they need to.
"We needed to show another character - not just play nice football but fight together," he told Arsenal's official website.
"We did the job well defensively. We didn’t just play well with passes, sometimes you need to work hard for your club, for your team-mates.
"You need to win your duels and the second balls, and I think we did it.
"We pushed ourselves more to have the three points and it’s good for our confidence to have a win like this.”
Arsenal's victory helped the north Londoners cling onto the coattails of pacesetters Chelsea, who boast an eight-point lead at the top of the table.
But it could be costly for Wenger, who has been charged with misconduct after clashing with fourth official Anthony Taylor in the tunnel.
The Frenchman has until Thursday to respond to the FA
Bournemouth striker Benik Afobe has revealed that his teammate Jack Wilshere will make a decision over his future at the end of the season.
The midfielder joined the Cherries last summer on a loan deal from Arsenal in order to pick up regular game time following numerous injury setbacks.
The 25-year-old, who came through the Gunners' academy in 2008, has 18 months remaining on his current deal at the Emirates and is yet to be offered fresh terms.
"To be honest I don't think even he knows what he is going to be doing," The Mirror quotes Afobe as saying.
"We have convos all the time and he just wants to play week in week out and take it month by month and see what happens at the end of the season.
The main thing for him is about getting his confidence back and staying injury free."
AC Milan are believed to be considering a move for Wilshere, while Bournemouth are keen to keep hold of the midfielder for next season.
The England international has made 17 Premier League appearances, 15 of which have been starts, for the Cherries.
