Arteta a 'genius' for connections he has created - Elneny

Departing midfielder Mohamed Elneny says the "unique sense of family" at Arsenal is what sets the club apart from the rest.

When he first arrived in 2016, he was captained by Mikel Arteta and the Egypt international recollects the warm welcome he was given by the man who now manages the club.

"Everyone made me feel welcome but there were two people in particular who went out of their way to make me feel at home," he told Arsenal's website. "The first was Arsene Wenger, the day I arrived at the training ground, and the second? Mikel Arteta.

"As soon as I came onto the pitch he was talking to me and, after, we would go for lunch, and in the dressing room he was talking to me, all through my first few days here.

"What Mikel also did was talk to my agent and tell him I was a good player because he knew my agent was going to tell me. And it made me happy. I think things like that, which seem to be part of the Arsenal DNA, are incredible."

Now having been managed by Arteta for four and a half seasons, Elneny is full of admiration for the culture he has cultivated within the club.

"We're really together and we do everything together," he added. "I love Mikel's ideas, for sure, because he always wants us to be together, with him as well.

"Mikel for me is a genius because he made this connection between the players, and him, and the club, and the fans, all of us together. I think it's something really magical - because you have to do magic to do this. I swear, the fans feel like they are one of us.

"They're not apart from us. They come to the stadium happy and you can see how much they are behind the team - when we are away you see how many people come. We are lucky to have these fans behind us."