Arsenal: 3 Albert Sambi Lokonga tactical roles under Arteta

2. The Solitary No. 6 in a 4-3-3

Will we ever see the 4-3-3 under Arteta? Almost definitely. The question is when, and if Arteta will keep his job long enough to begin implementing it.

The personnel might not be what the manager wants just yet but if there was ever a time to begin implementing the transition then this summer suits best of all. The time not spent travelling around Europe can be spent on the training pitch perfecting it. Makes sense.

Now, Sambi is not ready to be anchoring a midfield in the Premier League. It’s a considerable demand of a 21-year-old who has never played football outside of Belgium to be doing so.

However, there may come spells in matches, as well as when Partey is away at AFCON, where variations of this role are evident. Despite lining up on the right of a midfield trio for Anderlecht, Sambi spent most of his time being the deepest operator in midfield.

Not an Yves Bissouma destroyer type No. 6, Sambi sets the tone instead. In a 4-3-3 he loves to drop in between the centre-backs and collect possession deep, where he has the view of the pitch to progress.

As the sole No. 6 his superb passing vision can come to the fore. Of all his key qualities, none are as striking than his ability to make line breaking passes from deep. The accuracy and speed of these passes completely disorganises opposition formations and adds gloriously needed pace to attacks. The laborious nature of some of Arsenal’s play last season was crying out for more tempo.

Defensively there is still some clear work to be done for him to be entrusted in this role in the Premier League. He can be guilty of gambling (which when it comes off is proactive genius) in challenges and can sometimes be overzealous in his duels. Matteo Guendouzi was criticised for being a headless chicken and while Sambi is some way off that he does have a tendency to over commit in certain situations.