Mohamed Elneny appeared to aim what is being perceived as a very public dig at former team-mate Alexis Sanchez on Thursday night by claiming that Arsenal “now” have players fighting every minute for their fans.

Arsenal’s first game since the departure of Sanchez was also their best win since last year’s FA Cup final victory and Elneny published a celebratory post on Twitter.

Having come through their League Cup semi-final against Chelsea requiring Sanchez for only a 24-minute substitute appearance in the first leg, Elneny posted a photograph alongside the message, “Now there are players fighting every minute for the logo and fans”. No names were mentioned and English is not Elneny's first language but he was soon deluged with replies from fans who had interpreted his post as a swipe at his former team-mates.

There was a feeling inside the Arsenal dressing-room that Sanchez had been indulged by Wenger and the lack of goodwill messages on social media from his team-mates has been conspicuous ever since the Chile striker’s departure to Manchester United was confirmed on Monday. Thierry Henry had also previously highlighted how so few Arsenal players celebrated when Sanchez scored what proved to be his penultimate Arsenal goal against Crystal Palace last month.