Mohamed Elneny is in line to finally make his Arsenal debut on Saturday, with Arsene Wenger again preparing to rotate and rest key players for the FA Cup.
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Wenger has so far persisted with Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey in central midfield even after completing a £7 million January deal to take Elneny from Basle and, despite being included in recent matchday squads, the Egypt international is still yet to feature from the bench.
The 23-year-old is expected to start on Saturday against Burnley, however, potentially alongside Calum Chambers in central midfield although Francis Coquelin could also return to the squad for the first time since November following his knee ligament injury.
David Ospina and Kieran Gibbs are respectively likely to replace Petr Cech and Nacho Monreal in the FA Cup, with Wenger also weighing up how much time to give Alexis Sanchez against Burnley following his brief return from a hamstring injury during the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea last Sunday.
Mesut Ozil may well also be rested but Tomas Rosicky and Alex Iwobi are likely to be involved, with Danny Welbeck another player now back in training but not in contention for Saturday. There is no return date at present for Jack Wilshere.
Gibbs is likely to come in for Monreal
In the longer term, Wenger is till scouting midfield reinforcements in the knowledge that Flamini, Rosicky and Mikel Arteta are likely to leave at the end of their contracts this summer.
Elneny has been identified as a versatile and young midfield addition while Gedion Zalalem, who is currently on loan at Rangers, will be given the chance to prove himself in pre-season and potentially remain with the first-team next season.
Wenger, though, also has the funds to add an established marquee player this summer following the arrivals over the past three summers of Ozil, Sanchez and Cech
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