Alexandre Lacazette once tipped him to be future Arsenal captain, then he was sold for just £260,000

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Alexandre Lacazette became the Arsenal captain in February 2022 on a temporary basis after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the club.

The Gabon international was given the armband by Unai Emery after Granit Xhaka was stripped of the title, but Aubameyang suffered the same fate.

Lacazette led the side as well as he could during the final months of his Gunners contract. During that time, the Frenchman also named four future Arsenal captain candidates.

One of his picks was a big surprise – Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Alexandre Lacazette tipped Albert Sambi Lokonga to become a future Arsenal captain in 2022

Lokonga had an impressive start to his Arsenal career after joining the club in 2021.

The Belgian held his own against top-class opposition in the middle of the park, and many people felt that he would become a star.

Before he became a Gunner, Lokonga had donned the captain’s armband at Anderlecht, even though he was just 21 years old at the time.

That made Alexandre Lacazette believe that Lokonga had what it takes to become the Arsenal captain in the future.

He said: “Sambi Lokonga, he’s already been a captain in the past, so it’s not hard to say he can be a good captain.”

Lokonga made just 10 more Premier League appearances for Arsenal after Lacazette’s comments. He then spent three spells out on loan before Andrea Berta sold him in the summer.

German outlet Bild, as relayed by Metro, claim that Hamburg signed Lokonga for a fee as low as £260,000, which is terrible business from Arsenal if true.

Alexandre Lacazette’s three other picks to become Arsenal captain

Alexandre Lacazette couldn’t have been more wrong with his prediction about Lokonga, but the Belgian wasn’t the only player he tipped to be a future Arsenal captain.

Another player the French striker backed was Kieran Tierney, but that didn’t happen either. The Scot left the club and returned to Celtic on a free transfer in the summer.

The two others Lacazette backed to become Arsenal captains were Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes.

Both players are still at the club, and Gabriel is even part of the current leadership group under Mikel Arteta, which also includes Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino.

If injuries hadn’t troubled White over the last year, we are convinced that he would have been part of the group as well. So, Lacazette wasn’t too wrong with this pick.