Fabrizio Romano says Arsenal transfer target, Albert Sambi Lokonga is telling his other suitors that he is joining the Gunners.
The 21-year-old Anderlecht star has emerged as one of Arsenal’s key transfer targets this summer.
The Gunners want to bolster their squad and adding a new midfielder is a priority for them.
They have lost Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard who have both returned to Real Madrid.
They could also lose Granit Xhaka at the start of next season as AS Roma continues to insist on signing the Swiss midfielder.
Sambi Lokonga has been on their radar and they are reportedly close to sealing a transfer for him.
However, they are not the only European club looking to sign him this summer.
But the Belgian appears to have set his mind on a move to the Emirates with Romano confirming that he has been informing his other suitor that he already knows where he would be playing next season.
“Lokonga is 100% open to joining Arsenal. He would love to join Arsenal, he was contacted by Italian clubs, Napoli and Atalanta, but he said ‘my priority is Arsenal’, so let’s see if Arsenal will decide to complete the deal in the next days,” Romano said on his Here We Go Podcast.
he must really like our outfit because if I was his age and Atalanta came a calling, especially with Gasperini’s ability to get the most out of his players, I would be signing on the dotted line immediately…I would suggest that the one thing that neither Atalanta or Napoli can offer, that Arsenal can, is a big fat pay raise…I like what I’ve seen and read about this player, but he’s far from a finished product…I just can’t fathom why we aren’t addressing our NEEDS, first and foremost, before buying another CB, selling some of our best prospects and/or purchasing a speculative prospect…this club needs some balance, both from an experiential and tactical standpoint, as what we witnessed last season won’t cut it moving forward
Unfortunately, you are not him and it makes more sense that you are not him.
Lokonga’s surely coming in as backup so we definitely still need a midfield partner for partey. Bissouma should be that guy however I think he is going to cost a lot more than the speculated £40m price tag. Brighton are asking for £50m for white, so I have no doubt they will want upwards of £50-60m for bissouma who is an important cog in their team and i don’t see us paying that fee,unfortunately.
White is English and Homegrown, so his price would definitely be high. You can’t compare with Bissouma like that. White was also Brighton’s player of the season.
Bissouma won’t be sold for more than 40mil
Wasnt White on loan at Leeds? Just asking
Yes.. he did really well there. Winning potm, gotm awards. Was named in pfa championship team of the year and was voted Leeds Young player of the season. Not bad eh?!
This is a testament to the fact that genuine players want to work with Mikel and believe in him. Ben White, Bissouma are example of good players who want to be in Mikel’s squad. Their wanting to join us ia like an egg on the face of those who slate Mikel each day and say that he is no good for the job!!! We need to clear out the junk first to accomodate the real football players. Cheers to Mikel.
@LooseCannon- I would suggest the fact they will be playing at The Arsenal has as much to do with players coming here. Let’s not forget where we finished under Arteta last season. With a squad including SEVEN of his choice of players. After 6 games we will know exactly where we are as a team under this novice. Anything less than 12 points and he’s gone.
Lokonga is good no doubt, but Bissouma is the real deal, hope AFC goes for Bissouma who is also interested in playing for us. Now that White seems to be a done deal, Bissouma will have added incentive in joining us and I hope AFC pursues him with the right earnest.
Much as I admire White as a player,in terms of priorities, in my opinion Bissouma and Lokonga are more essential buys as we really need to rejuvenate our midfield by bringing athleticism to that area.I would sign both and a back up LB before I would contemplate spending 50m on yet another CB.