Mohamed Elneny has explained how his Arsenal move came about, after scouts watching another player noticed him playing for FC Basel.

The Gunners had their eye on Fabian Schar, a Swiss international central defender now currently with Hoffenheim, but the Egyptian international caught their eye, and he ended up moving to London in January for a fee of around £11m.

Speaking to DMC sports, the midfielder said, “I was very happy when I joined Arsenal but I asked one of my friends how the negotiations started and if they had scouted me before.

“He told me that Arsenal officials were scouting Fabian Schär in the first place, and that’s when they noticed me.

“All of us at Basel knew that Schär was linked with Arsenal and at every season’s end, we congratulated him as the move was close to completion, according to Schär himself. But afterwards, things changed quickly.”

“My agent told me that Arsenal officials came many times to watch Schär but they were impressed every time by my performances and development and they went on to sign me instead.”

So, a nice little insight into how things work, and how close Schar came to being an Arsenal player. It’s an illustration as to how, until everything is signed, sealed and delivered, transfers can change very quickly.