Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny has revealed that he wants to retire in North London and admitted that he was reduced to tears when the club told him that they wanted him to stay for the 2023-24 season.
The 31-year-old is the Gunners' longest-serving player, having joined when Arsene Wenger was at the helm in January 2016, but his contract was due to expire at the end of last season.
Elneny had previously penned a short-term renewal at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, having enjoyed an unexpected revival under Mikel Arteta, but his 2022-23 season was cut short due to a severe knee injury at the end of January.
Elneny was only on the fringes of Arteta's team anyway, and the Gunners maintained their Premier League title charge for several weeks without the Egypt international before their end-of-season capitulation.
Despite his lengthy layoff and low ranking in the Gunners' midfield pecking order, where Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Jorginho are ahead of him, Elneny was handed a one-year extension back in February.
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Opening up on his renewal to the Evening Standard, Elneny confessed that the day Arsenal asked him to stick around was one of the "happiest" of his life, and he cannot see himself representing any other club before he hangs up his boots.
"It was one of the happiest days in my life. The way they spoke to me, the way the entire club was happy about this decision, they made me cry this day," the former Basel man said.
"Arsenal football club, they know I love them 100 per cent, so much. They know I don't want to leave. I want to stay and finish my career there, 100 per cent.
"I was injured and my contract was finishing and I could not play anymore last season, and they came straight away after I got injured, the next day and said: 'Mo, what sort of contract will it have to be? We love you here and we and we want you to stay'. Really, this club is great.
"I want to finish my career when I'm 37 or 36, so I still have five or six years left to go. I'm working really hard like always and trying to go back into the first XI for Arsenal. For sure, it's my goal this year."
Prior to making a name for himself in Europe with Basel, Elneny played 39 times for Egyptian side El Mokawloon and opened up on a bizarre exchange with a journalist while plying his trade in his homeland.
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The midfielder revealed his goal to play for Barcelona to the reporter, who subsequently walked away from the interview without saying another word, but Elneny believes that he has nothing to lose by dreaming big.
"He said to me: 'Mo, where you do you want to play?' I was playing for a club in the middle of the table in Egypt, but I said to him: 'I want to play at the Camp Nou in Barcelona'," Elneny added.
"I swear to you, he just walked off and didn't continue the interview with me, no thank you, no goodbye or anything, he just walked off.
"If you don't dream big in football, you will not get anything. If you dream big at least you're gonna be close. This is what I really believe. I love to dream. What am I going to lose?"
Elneny coincidentally scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 3-1 Champions League defeat away to Barcelona in 2016, and he now boasts six goals and 10 assists in 156 games for the Gunners in all tournaments.
Following his knee operation and lengthy hiatus, Elneny - who also runs his own London-based football academy named Elneny FC - has made one appearance for Arsenal this season, coming off the bench in an EFL Cup third-round win over Brentford.
Ben Knapton
