Mohamed Elneny is no stranger to people baulking at his footballing ambitions – which is why he is happy to declare he wants to take his newly-founded club all the way to the Premier League.
The Arsenal midfielder announced the launch of Elneny FC last week, a new team which he hopes will give a chance to players who have fallen through the cracks of pre-existing clubs.
A number of try-outs across north London and Essex have been planned, with the hope of finding enough players of the desired quality to train and play in friendly matches for the next year before Elneny FC enters the football pyramid.
For Elneny, though, the dream is to then lead his eponymous club to the very top and defy any critics – much like his earlier playing days.
“I remember one journalist was talking to me in Egypt and he asked me, last question, he said to me: ‘Mo, where you do you want to play?’,” Elneny said.
“I was playing for a club (Al Mokawloon) in the middle of the table in Egypt but I said to him ‘I want to play at the Nou Camp in Barcelona’.
“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 going to be close— Mohamed Elneny
“My friend said ‘look where you are. Look where you are in the middle of the table in Egypt, how are you going to get to one of the best teams in the world’?
“If you don’t dream big in football you will not get anything. If you dream big at least you’re going to be close. This is what I really believe.”
After a stint in Basel, Elneny joined Arsenal and went on to play – and score – in a Champions League tie against Barcelona in their iconic stadium.
Now the 31-year-old will set out to prove any doubters wrong once again as he aims high with his own club.
“I have told so many people and they are just laughing at me because when I say I want to play in the Premier League one day, they just say ‘How? The Premier League is the best in the world and you want to get there from zero?’ he added.
“Some people just don’t get the idea but for me, I love to dream, that is why I need good people around me.
“I think the players we sign will be excited and then I am going put the idea every time when we train them: ‘we want to be in the Premier League one day’.
“Of course, it could take 15 years, 20 years but we have the target where we want to be.
“I love to dream. What am I going to lose? I’m going to work every day about this (Elneny FC).”
Elneny is hoping to get some crossover support from the Arsenal fanbase and also arrange coaching sessions with some of his Emirates Stadium team-mates and one day hopes Elneny FC will meet the Gunners in the FA Cup.
The Egypt international believes his club will only tighten his close ties to north London, with Elneny currently Arsenal’s longest-serving player.
He admits to shedding a tear when the club offered him a one-year extension towards the end of last season – despite the fact he was absent with a serious knee injury that was not healed until his old deal would have expired.
“It was one of the happiest days in my life, really,” he added.
“The way they talked to me, the way all the club was happy about this decision, they made me cry this day. I said ‘oh my God’. 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.”
