During Arsene Wenger’s press conference ahead of our clash with Southampton on Tuesday, the boss revealed some interesting statistics behind Mohamed Elneny’s debut.

Our new defensive midfielder made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt against Burnley in the FA Cup on Saturday and had a pretty solid match. Although his first half an hour was a bit shaky, he soon warmed into the game and never stopped running, which is something Wenger highlighted.

“His first performance was very good in many aspects,” the manager said

“He had plenty of passes, he made 84 passes and 98 per cent were completed. His movement was good, he had a high work-rate.

“He has to adapt to the toughness of the challenges and certainly gain a little bit in confidence to be more incisive in his passing, but overall for a first performance it was encouraging.”

There’s definitely positives to take from the 23-year-old’s performance and I’m sure as he gets used to the physicality of a new league, he’ll be a really useful addition to the team.

Although it was originally thought that the former Basel man would be back-up to Francis Coquelin, who’s only just regaining his fitness after being sidelined for months with a knee injury, it now appears that the two midfielders can actually play side-by-side. This versatility in Elneny’s game could be a huge advantage in the future.