Player Profile
- Name
- Albert Lokonga
- Squad number
- 23
- Born
- October 22, 1999/Brussels, Belgium
- National team
- Belgium
- Arsenal debut
- v Brentford (a), Premier League, August 13, 2021 (lost 2-0)
- Previous clubs
- Anderlecht
All-action midfielder Albert, known as Sambi, featured 15 times for the Gunners last term – notably starting every game in our successful Europa League group stage campaign – before joining Crystal Palace on loan for the second half of the season. He made nine appearances for the Eagles, impressing in the centre of the park, to help steer them to Premier League safety.
That followed a promising debut season in north London in 2021/22 during which he played 24 times in all competitions – including 12 of our first 13 Premier League matches – and made his senior international debut for Belgium.
Highly rated from a young age in his home country, Sambi spent more than a decade with Belgian giants Anderlecht before joining Arsenal in July 2021. He made his first-team debut aged 18 in December 2017 and went on to represent his hometown club 78 times in all competitions. He already had experience in European competition when he joined us, and was a regular under then-manager Vincent Kompany in his final season with the club.
And football is in the blood with Sambi’s family, as his brother, Paul-Jose M’Poku, is a Democratic Republic of Congo international who started his career at Tottenham Hotspur and has since plied his trade across Europe.
