There have been consistent Arsenal rumours linking us strongly with the Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves after missing out on Emi Buendia to Aston Villa.
But the 24 year-old doesn’t seem to have impressed Arsenal fans as target, but according to the Athletic, he is not the only other midfielder on Arsenal’s radar.
With David Ornatein on the staff, the Athletic are usually reliable in the Arsenal reports, and they are saying that the Gunners are looking at the younger, cheaper, Anderlecht star Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Despite his tender age, Lokonga has already played 52 League games in the Belgian League, helping Anderlecht to 4th place this season, and has also played six times for the Belgian U21s.
He is hotly tipped as a star of the future, and with the Belgium national side classified as the best team in the world right now, there has been a wealth of talent exported to many big European sides.
Surely at just 21 he has a lot more maturing and growing to do, but he is obviously headed in the right direction and could be a great investment for Arsenal, especially if we can get him for a lot cheaper price than Ruben Neves…
As @Sue would say cheap free.. that’s definitely makes him an Arsenal target!
Hey, tell me which expensive signing (other than PEA’s first stint) was even bang average for us? Xhaka, Mustafi (30M+), Ozil, Laca, Partey (40M+), Pepe (flashes here and there), Leno (20M) blunder every third game,etc. Lokonga type are the signings what should excite fans, young and having the desire to outshine the opponents.
Neves is an expensive version of Xhaka, Emi B. is someone who prefers to swim in small ponds – are not the type of players we need. Bissouma timing is wrong, will be gone for the AFCON, so Lokonga is the man and he was referred by Henry who does know a little more of football than the so called arm chair pundits.
Hey tell me where in my comment did i write anything negative about the player? that’s right nowhere i was alluding to the fact that most reports concerning our supposedly targets always include references to their low prices/fees or being free agents!
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For a defensive midfield role. Arsenal should not be going for untested players in EPL, we also don’t need a player who can’t comfortably replace Granit Xaka. Bissuoma or Neves would be better. Next season will be more challenging than the previous because other teams would be ready to fight for the Top 6. Arteta should go for players that will make his team better. Hence, his job will be on the line bcos fans would not be patient with him. Even me.
For me it is a big NO, we don’t need young lads to develop their games from Arsenal. We have Miguel Azeez of we want young Box to Box midfielders. Why would we buy another one. We want proven stars with premiership experience. To me Bissouma tops the list. This guy dominates the midfield alone and that’s what we are currently missing in our squad. While Ruben Neves is also good but lacks the speed requied for Premiership relying on long range passes is not sufficient. We want quick players who can move from one box to another and recovers quickly to protect the back four in case the possession is lost. Forget about african cup. It is only three games (FA will be played one wekend).
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you can’t forget about African cup… we have Elneny, Partey and if we add Bissouma, this means the whole midfield is gone !
and they will be out for 1 month minimum if they don’t progress to the next levels…
Your last statement discredits everything you said. Did you know we just missed out on top 4 with 6 points (2 matches). Does it not mean 3-4kg weeks of poor team selection could cause us problems?
For me the looking kid is not too expensive we could buy them both. Don’t get me wrong, I want Bissouma too but i fear losing Partey, Elneny and Bissouma all at once…
For me it is a big NO, we don’t need young lads to develop their games from Arsenal. We have Miguel Azeez of we want young Box to Box midfielders. Why would we buy another one. We want proven stars with premiership experience. To me Bissouma tops the list. This guy dominates the midfield alone and that’s what we are currently missing in our squad. While Ruben Neves is also good but lacks the speed requied for Premiership relying on long range passes is not sufficient. We want quick players who can move from one box to another and recovers quickly to protect the back four in case the possession is lost. Forget about african cup. It is only three games (FA will be played one wekend).
Yes we should swap Lokonga for Elneny. We should pay Lokonga 6k per week on a two year deal.
TBH, I know nothing about Lokonga, BUT I am definitely not esp struck on the rather ordinary Neves, whose goals and assists are extremely poor for aplayer whose asking fee is £40 mill.
I hope we either pass on Neves OR pay at very most, around £15- £18 mill. I just dont see Neves as the man to much improve us, even though he is not bad. But he is just not special and I suspect most Gooners agree.
To me big NO! Young lad coming to learn epl+to learn big games eg ARSENAL VS LIVERPOOL just think about it. Beter BISSO.
What’s wrong with that? If he does well either the team improves and he stays on with a side that might be going places, or we sell for more than we paid – we’ve got to be pragmatic now, not every signing has to become a club legend like Vieira.
Looks like we should just go shopping in Brighton. Ryan, Lamptey, White, Bissouma. We could offer a host of players permanent or on loan to soften the blow. While we areatit, perhaps steal their manager too. 😁
I see no reason we should sign White. Saliba has already proven himself and still will.
I agree with signing Bissouma tho, he should be our main target
Luvit!!
Atid, Brighton & Hove Albion, a “one stop shop” as Arsenal’s feeder club, which is disrespectful to an obviously well run club. 😁
What we need are players that can play as a team, and a few leaders. We were so close, just 6 points to qualify for Champions League. We can’t even beat teams like Aston Villa, Everton and Burnley at home? Why? Inconsistency and big ego players as some put that. I felt the players, some of them, are not team players at all The coach is too defensive and have forgotten our creative style of playing. We also don’t have a winning mentality, which is crucial We do not act like a big club anymore but accepts mediocrity, which is quite apparent in the attitudes of some of these players No fighting spirit and unity, that is the becoming of this club. Look at Kante, he isn’t big in size, but the manner he plays, his humility and the fighting spirit and winning mentality is our loss when we decide not to buy him a few years ago. Arsenal need players like him, players that hate to lose in a game
Spencer arsenal really wanted Kante its the player who decided against it. Joining Chelsea instead. Though arsenal would’ve bought him earlier ahead of Leicester. Many against lokonga for lack of EPL experience how much of it did Nasri had? Fernades etc
The way I see it, Lokonga would be Partey’s only natural deputy, replacing Elneny. He’s perhaps less of a destroyer than Partey but seems to be in a similar mould. The youth players mentioned – Azeez and Patino – are not defensive midfielders but rather deep-lying playmakers who would deputise the Xhaka role.
With all this in mind, we need both: a new, improved Xhaka and a better deputy for Partey. I personally don’t think Neves is enough of an improvement but he’s closer to the kind of signing we need.
Whilst we will be needing 3 mids , if not 4 even , neves should not be one of them. He wont propel us to cl. Lakonga i have not seen but comes highly recommended by rubbish manager Henry.Maybe if he is cheaper than chips we can lend him out to gain value if he does not cut it. I was unimpressed with all the prospective targets on view last night(Cal did provide the pass of the night though).One who must be certain is Bissouma, He is Gooner who is actually good enough to play for us , that has to add 10% more to his game
with xhaka luiz gone no more dropped points with silly reds mistakes etc leno next plzzzz
Bissouma would be an upgrade on Xhaka, and Lokonga has the skills to play in virtually any midfield position and would add quality which is lacking in Elneny and Torreria.Lokonga who has been strongly recommended to Arsenal by TH and is on the standby list for Belgium who are one of the favourites for the Euros.The guy glides over the pitch and is very athletic, an asset which we badly need at Arsenal.He would be a natural to fill in for Partey and/or Bissluma when they are on AFCON duties.Neves is fairly pedestrian and lacks pace to drive forward s.In other words, he is similar in many ways to Xhaka.
Grandad you’ve good idea what arsenal ‘ve been and are lacking since cesc rosicky are ball playing, swift midfielder.eg kante kovacic thiago like. With defence fixed this should be a top priority. Unfortunately it mighty not
Grandad, I’d through Matheus Pereira into the mix as an ACM/#10 to take the pressure off ESR. He is EPL proven, the right age, Brazilian (so no Afcon), played very well in a poor West Bromwich Albion team and has a good goal scoring record.
“through” should be “throw”! 😞
Iv seen Lokonga play and honestly that boy cant lace Bissoumas boots , il rather give Azeez a chance. While Lokonga has the physic he lacks the football intelligence .
WE have the players to thrive Arteta just doesn’t know how to get the best out of them. I fear for the future of arsenal as i think Edu should have been a Brazilian scout rather than the position he occupies presently .As for Vinia he is simply stealing a living .
grizzle, hopefully Edu can make himself useful and bring Matheus Pereira to Arsenal!
Don’t have a clue. I don’t trust our foreign scouting very much though. So many deals have gone south recently. Neves is an upgrade on Xhaka, though I’d take netiher if i had the choice. Since I only know one player I have to say Neves is better and I dont see this guy being better than Neves at least right away.
I think Neves is not what we want, he is a similar player like Xhaka, we need a creative midfielder, someone who will pass our strikers and create opportunities to score. I’m watching Enid Bardhi of Macedonia, I think he can be a good buy. No to Neves.
I think Arteta is a coward, he wants to buy all defensive minded players. We need players who can open up oppositions and create goals for us. All that he thinks of is to defend and not lose a game. The best defence is attack.