Long-term injuries in football can completely change the course of a career.
One day you’re absolutely fine and playing at the top of your game, the next you’re out injured for a year and on the scrapheap.
Mohamed Elneny almost had to go through this nightmare scenario at Arsenal last season.
The Egyptian’s contract was up at the end of last term, and he suffered an ACL injury in January that could easily have signalled the end of his Arsenal career.
Elneny was facing the prospect of being a free agent who hadn’t played for 10 months, and at that point, teams start to second-guess whether you’re worth signing and your career can be forced to end prematurely.
Speaking on Arsenal’s YouTube channel, Elneny has stated that he thought his career may have been at risk after his injury, but, luckily, Arsenal stuck by the midfielder and offered him a new deal.
Elneny was worried
The £7m man spoke about his injury and his thought process.
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“My contract was going to finish last year and with the ACL. Your career is probably at risk, because you won’t be playing and then you won’t have a contract anymore and nobody will take you because you haven’t been playing and it’s a risk for them because you don’t know how you’ll come back. The next day they called me in the office and I went in and everyone was there, and the first thing they said was that everyone is happy to give you a one-year contract. I was really emotional because when you get the love from the people you love it’s special,” Elneny said.
Can easily happen
As painful as it is to say, Elneny’s career could easily have been cut short by this injury.
If he went into the summer as an unfit free agent who wouldn’t have been ready until the autumn, most teams wouldn’t have taken a chance on him, and once you fall into that footballing purgatory, it’s hard to get out.
Luckily, Arsenal stuck by Elneny, and he remains at the Emirates, and while he may not be a key player, the chance to prove his ability and fitness again this season should help him extend his career going forwards, be that at Arsenal or elsewhere come the end of the season.