It’s time for Arsenal to part ways with 23-year-old Albert Sambi Lokonga given his lack of progress over the last year.
After Arteta today commented on his 30-man-squad being “unsustainable” in his post-match comments it seems the opportune time for a departure.
Arsenal signed Lokonga towards the start of Mikel Arteta’s tenure back in 2019 for a fee of £17m.
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Lokonga arrived with a lot of excitement and potential given at 21 he was already Anderlecht’s club captain.
However, two years later Lokonga has made very little progress at the club.
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Lokonga isn’t currently on Arsenal’s pre-season tour owing to a muscle injury but it’s also reported that Arsenal want to offload the player.
The Belgium international is one of eight players Arsenal are keen to sell along with the likes of Nicholas Pepe, Folarin Balogun and Rob Holding.
It would definitely be a shame to see Lokonga leave, a departure that would be full of disappointment on both sides, but there seems little choice now.
Lokonga failed to make too much of an impression whilst on loan at Crystal Palace, even when manager Patrick Vieira had pushed for the move.
And as can be seen at almost any top club, you don’t return from a disappointing loan in a better position at your parent team.
It’s time for Arsenal to sell Lokonga
Part of Lokonga’s lack of progress at Arsenal may not really be a fault of his own.
At the Emirates, Lokonga was quickly tasked with the unenviable position of being Thomas Partey’s substitute.
Partey has proven to be an incredibly important player for Arsenal and the side were visibly worse when he wasn’t on the field.
Moreover, part of that perception was Albert Sambi Lokonga couldn’t cope with the task to deputise.
And by the time Lokonga started to get opportunities further up the field, in a more attacking role that seemed to suit his strengths, a lot of his confidence was seemingly already lost.
Lokonga had some costly performances at the base of Arsenal’s midfield and has never seemed to fully recover.
Gunners fans will undoubtedly wish Lokonga the best for the future, a player who still holds so much potential, but his time at Arsenal seems to be up.