Midfield has been a hot topic of discussion surrounding Arsenal ahead of the summer transfer window.
Whether that be incomings amid links to Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo or outgoings as football.london understands talks over a £13million deal taking Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen are at an advanced stage, it's looking like the Gunners' engine room will undergo some big changes in the coming months.
And there could be at least one more departure in the form of a somewhat forgotten man in Albert Sambi Lokonga. The Belgian began the campaign with Arsenal - even filling in for Thomas Partey against Manchester United back in September - but struggled for much game time outside the Europa League from that point onwards.
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As a result of a lack of minutes, coupled with the arrival of Jorginho from Chelsea in the January transfer window, the midfielder opted to join Crystal Palace on loan on deadline day, but as luck would have it, he's fallen down the pecking order since Roy Hodgson replaced Patrick Vieira as manager at the end of March.
Lokonga went from starting five games in a row under the Frenchman - impressing in a goalless draw at home to Liverpool nonetheless - to failing to make an appearance in six of the subsequent eight fixtures after the trip to the Emirates Stadium for which he was ineligible as per Premier League rules.
Likely to be heading back to his parent club at the end of the campaign, it's safe to say Lokonga is facing a big summer as his game time will be even further limited should the Gunners sign Rice and Caicedo. Therefore, it might be best for the midfielder to seek pastures new and it just so happens that a reunion with Vincent Kompany could be on the cards.
This is rather interesting especially as Arsenal completed a £17million deal for Lokonga during the 2021 summer transfer window after he was recommended as the 'new Yaya Toure' to Mikel Arteta.
These were Kompany's exact words when speaking to Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel ‘FIVE’ after seeing the midfielder up close at Anderlecht: "The first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel and also Pep, but Mikel first and said, 'You got to watch this guy, he’s the new Yaya Toure'. Anyway, nothing comes of it, he’s got a cruciate ligament [injury].
"Then I fall into the management job at Anderlecht, so I’m working with him. I had the same conversation with Mikel and I believe the same thing now. I'm not sure I'm doing him a favour saying this stuff, but look, you know what I like about Sambi, what Yaya did have, is, he wants the ball no matter what."
In fairness to Kompany, he was right about not doing Lokonga any favours with such lofty comparisons to Yaya Toure, who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation.
Sure, the 23-year-old still has plenty of time to carve out his own reputation, but after what has turned out to be a frustrating campaign, he simply needs more game time so maybe a move to newly-promoted Burnley is the perfect step, after all it could be that Kompany is the one to unlock his potential.
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