Mohamed Elneny had Georg Heitz, FC Basel's sports director, baffled.

"I thought we had signed an Egyptian," he remarked, with a cheeky grin, "not an Ethiopian!"

Heitz had just seen his FCB shock Liverpool 1-0 in the Europa League, with his little known Egyptian, Mohamed Elneny, running a Liverpool midfield comprising of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling absolutely ragged.

The FCB transfer guru deserved his moment. It was he whom had travelled to Cairo 18 months previously to bring Elneny to Basel, tipped off about the then 20 year-old by Bob Bradley, the former Egypt coach.

Heitz had already secured a deal with El Mokawloon for Mohamed Salah, but was urged by Bradley to negotiate an option for Elneny. "They'll both benefit playing together," insisted the American.

Just over a year on from that Liverpool performance and Elneny is ready to put pen to paper on a contract with Arsenal. And while many Gooners are scratching their heads about Arsene Wenger's latest mystery transfer plunge, for Heitz and his fellow FCB directors, the move is no surprise.

At Basel, they're convinced of two key factors which have seen Elneny's game thrive over the past year - his father and good friend, Salah.

For many, Salah's sale to Chelsea two years ago was the making of Elneny. The pair had played together since their youth and in Switzerland were virtually joined at the hip. By his own admission, Elneny, as he struggled with the local language, would allow Salah to take the lead in public. His good friend's departure forced him to come out of himself.

"Yeah, that's right. I became better after Mohamed Salah had gone. But he's not the only reason. On the other hand, he was like a barrier between me and the other players. If I wanted to say something, for example, at the club, I had to say it first to Salah and he'd passed it on.

"Now I talk directly to the people in the club, they know me better and know that I'm a good guy. They focus now more on me. They see what I'm doing on the field, and thank God I'm playing well."

Wenger's move for Elneny may baffle many in England. But inside FCB, it's no great surprise. Wenger needs a versatile midfielder, one who will quickly adjust to different systems and tactics. And thanks to his football coaching father, Elneny is such a player.

"Elneny is a player who you do not need to start again with," says Heitz. "You don't have to waste time with him thinking about how the game works.

"I'm sure he and his father would always discuss tactics at home."

Elneny's father was a professional coach with Baladeyet Al-Mahalla.

"He is a football coach and began to train me when I was three years old. He wanted nothing more than I became a professional," recalls Elneny.

"I remember how as a child he'd order me to take the ball off to bed. He's say: 'You have to merge with the ball'.

"I call my father after every game. He criticises me often, but also every time he praises me, saying how proud he is."

That famous game against Liverpool was the first his father saw his son play in Europe.

"He and my two sisters (Elneny's mother is deceased) visited me in Basel. After beating Liverpool my father had tears in his eyes, that touched me very much."

As for his hard-running style, Elneny admits it all comes from playing in the streets back home. It's an attitude that will serve him well in the hurly-burly of Premier League football.

"Running is part of my job, I like to be permanently in motion. As a child I often played ten hours or even longer in the street - I think there I learned to run nonstop.

"My duty to the team is to help with my strengths. And if my colleagues see how much I run, then they automatically run even more."

Such an approach is sure to take him far in England, which Elneny admits has always been a long-term goal.

"The Premier League is a big dream for any player, and I hope to move there one day," he says, admitting the support of Bradley has kept his ambition burning.

"I used to speak with Bradley a lot.

"He always talked to me about showing my skills in the Champions League and the Europa League."

Now, Elneny is on the brink of stardom. The 23 year-old makeweight in a deal for Salah is about to surpass his good friend and become Egypt's most recognisable footballer.

But Elneny, married with a young son, insists pulling on the Arsenal shirt won't change him.

"Even if people see me as a star: I am not, I am a normal person. In my view it is dangerous to feel like a star. One needs only to get injured or to end his career - and you're falling into a deep hole. I wish in football there was more humility and gratitude."