Arsenal have confirmed the exit of midfield outcast Mohamed Elneny, on loan to Besiktas for the rest of the season. The Egyptian international has been well down the pecking order under Unai Emery and has been further usurped this season by youngster Joe Willock. Elneny, who joined Arsenal in 2016 from Swiss side Basel, flew to Istanbul on Friday for talks over a switch to Turkey. And he has subsequently completed a loan move, which it’s understood can be made permanent for a fee in the region of £16 million.

Elneny joined the Gunners under Arsene Wenger, and has made 89 appearances for the north London club. However, the 27-year-old never made himself a fixture in the first-team, with 14 the most number of Premier League appearances he managed in his three full seasons at the club. Last term he made just 17 outings in all competitions, and hadn’t featured in the opening month of the current campaign. Elneny is the second player to leave Arsenal on Saturday, following Nacho Monreal. The Spain international, 33, completed a move to Real Sociedad earlier in the day.

Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal has joined La Liga side Real Sociedad on a two-year deal. The Spain international, 33, has started all three of the Gunners’ Premier League games this season and captained the team against Burnley. He made 250 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 10 goals, after joining the club from Malaga in January 2013.

Manager Unai Emery said on Thursday that the left-back could leave before the European transfer windows shut. Monreal won three FA Cups during his time with Arsenal and helped them reach last season’s Europa League final. He made his international debut in 2009, has won 22 caps and was a member of Spain’s 2018 World Cup squad. Arsenal signed Kieran Tierney, 22, as his long-term replacement this month. The former Celtic left-back is yet to make his Gunners debut and is not fit enough to be considered for Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

He started playing with Osasuna in 2005, going on to appear in 144 official games over the course of five La Liga seasons. In 2011 he signed with Málaga and, two years later, joined Arsenal, winning three FA Cup trophies with them. In 2007, Monreal earned his first call for the Spain under-21 team. He started all their matches in the 2009 UEFA European Championship, in an eventual group stage exit. Monreal was a member of the Spain squad which reached the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, although he was second-choice left back behind FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alba. He started in the last two group games, beginning with a 10–0 win over Tahiti at the Maracanã in which he set up a David Villa goal. Monreal scored his first goal for Spain on 12 November 2016, contributing to a 4–0 defeat of Macedonia for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Granada. He was then selected by manager Julen Lopetegui for the finals in Russia.