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Done deal: Arsenal confirm £19m signing, shirt number and best position revealed

By on July 19, 2021

alberto lokonga

Arsenal have finally announced the signing of Albert Lokonga on Arsenal.com with the midfielder arriving on a long-term contract in an £19m deal from Anderlecht.

Mikel Arteta has been in the market for midfield reinforcements this summer after Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard returned to Real Madrid following their loan spells while Matteo Guendouzi has joined Marseille.

Granit Xhaka is also being linked with a move to Italy and Lucas Torreira is expected to secure a move away from Arsenal ahead of the new season so we need new midfielders and Lokonga has been been strongly linked in recent weeks.

After lengthy negotiations with Anderlecht, Arsenal finally agreed a deal with the Belgian outfit earlier this month and Fabrizio Romano claims we will pay £15m up front and a further £4m in add-ons meaning the entire deal is worth £19m.

Lokonga was given permission to fly to London to put the finishing touches on his move. The formalities have now been completed and Arsenal have confirmed on the clubs website that Lokonga has joined the club with the 21-year-old signing a long-term contract.

Best position

After completing his move, Lokonga told Arsenal.com that’s he’s confident he can make the jump and revealed his best playing position:

“It’s a big move because I have been playing for Anderlecht for 10 years so it’s going to be my first big move to another country,”

“It’s a big step, but I feel confident because we have to be. In the football world, you have to feel confident about yourself, but I’m looking to play in this league and I can’t wait to start.”

“I can play both,” he said. “I can play as a six and I can play like a box to box, but people say that I’m better in the six position.”

Lokonga has developed into one of the most highly-rated young talents in Belgian football having broken into the Anderlecht first team set-up and he even captained the side during the closing stages of last season.

The youngster was also on the stand-by list for Belgium’s Euro 2020 squad so he certainly looks to have a bright future ahead of him and it will be interesting to see how he develops under Arteta at Arsenal.

Shirt No.

Lokonga is known for his passing ability and ability to drive the ball forward from deep areas so he might be viewed as a back-up for Thomas Partey, so I still expect another midfielder to arrive if/when Xhaka leaves.

The Belgian youngster becomes our second major signing of the summer window following the arrival of left-back Nuno Tavares from Benfica and he’ll wear the No.23 shirt during the upcoming campaign.