LOKONGA SIGNS ON A SEASON-LONG LOAN FROM ARSENAL

An agreement has been reached with Arsenal FC for the season-long loan with an option to buy for 24-year-old Belgian midfielder Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga. Having come through the youth system as RSC Anderlecht, he made his debut in the 2017/18 season, at just 18 years old, playing eight league matches and also competing in the UEFA Youth League. In the 2018/19 season, he played twice in the UEFA Youth League group stage, as well as making a further six league appearances. He became a regular starter during the 2019/20 season, playing every minute in the league until the pandemic suspended the season. He also played three cup matches, totaling 26 games and providing four assists.

By now a mainstay in the team, the following season he played 37 matches, contributing three goals and three assists leading to Arsenal signing him in the summer of 2021. Under the guidance of Mikel Arteta, Lokonga started the season playing regularly in the first half of the season. His debut season with the Gunners included 19 Premier League matches, four League Cup matches, and one FA Cup match. In the 2022/23 season, he played fewer domestic games with six league and three cup appearances, although he started all six group stage matches in the Europa League. He was then loaned out in January to Crystal Palace, where he played nine more league matches. 

Last season he was loaned out again, this time to the newly promoted Luton Town, where he played 19 matches—two of them in the FA Cup—scoring one goal and providing three assists. On the international stage, he has represented the Belgian national team at all age groups.  He was called up to the senior team for the first time in June 2021, just before moving to Arsenal, although he made his debut three months later in a World Cup qualifying match against Estonia in Tallinn. He was last called up by the Red Devils in March 2022