After decent start, Albert Sambi Lokonga can silence the doubters next season

I have seen a lot of disrespect towards an Arsenal player lately on social media, that being midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga.

The former Anderlecht player made 12 starts in the Premier League last season in what I would describe as a decent start for the Belgian.

There is something that some fans will need to realise when evaluating young players: development is not linear. Sambi may be the same age as a player like Declan Rice, but Lokonga has played 7,426 fewer domestic first-team minutes as the English midfielder. That is nearly two seasons’ worth of minutes. As the below graph shows, Sambi is right around the average for a 22-year-old, having played about 6,300 first-team minutes in domestic matches.

Arsenal must be patient with the talented Albert Sambi Lokonga

This is not the first time I have written about Sambi, who is a very interesting player to me. A few months ago, I wrote a thread detailing his first half in Arsenal’s 4-0 drubbing to Liverpool at the beginning of the season.

Despite this match not being at the forefront of Sambi’s great moments in his first season in north London, I believe it was a very good glimpse into what the young midfielder can offer the Gunners.

This example shows how calm Sambi can be on the ball in tighter situations as well as his ability to glide forward like Thomas Partey. These sorts of traits are exactly why I believe Arsenal’s scouting department identified Sambi. He has the tools and the flashes to do what Partey does for Arsenal, that might not be immediately, but I believe that he could 100% do what the Ghananian does with more time.

One of Sambi’s best performances came at home to Newcastle where he played in the #8 role that Granit Xhaka made his own last season. The midfielder is versatile enough to perform multiple functions, and this flexibility will stand him in good stead as he continues to adapt to Premier League.

However, the importance of specialisation can’t be overlooked and I see Sambi more as a #6 moving forward. For now, he is best utilised in a double pivot or higher as an #8 as he has shown some of his inexperience when playing in the single pivot. Although, the selection of a pair of forward-thinking #8’s ahead of the Belgian left him deserted at times.

Nevertheless, there’s no denying that Mohamed Elneny offered more stability than Sambi at the business end of the season. But I am by no means worried about the Egyptian throwing a wrench in Lokonga’s path as I think the staff at Arsenal has seen what he can be if given time.

Fans need to be patient with Lokonga. Development is not linear, and he could break out next season, but it also could very easily be later than that. Young players are bound to make errors, that is a given. It’s about having the mentality to bounce back and, as fans, we must do our part to support even when times are tougher on a player, especially a young one at that.

The jump up from Belgium to England is massive and, in this adaptation, Albert Sambi Lokonga had a solid start and I am so excited to watch his development unfold.