Arsenal's pursuit of Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans has dominated headlines over the last few months.
football.london reported earlier this year that Tielemans ' agent had a meeting with Gunners technical director Edu at the club's London Colney training ground, with the north Londoners certainly interested in the Belgian international. football.london also understands that Mikel Arteta's side have been holding off on finalising a deal, but reports of other teams being interested in acquiring his services could potentially change their stance in the coming weeks.
However, the performances of Albert Sambi Lokonga in the left-sided no.8 role during pre-season should make Arsenal reassess their pursuit of Tielemans, who would cost around £30 million to sign this summer according to The Telegraph. Lokonga struggled last season when deployed as a lone no.6, but the 22-year-old has been excellent in a more advanced role, scoring the last goal against Chelsea in Sunday morning's 4-0 victory.
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The talented maestro is still raw, but his sky-high potential can take him to the level of Manchester City icon Yaya Toure if his former teammate Vincent Kompany is to be believed. Speaking on Vibe with Five's YouTube channel last year, Kompany said: "When I was still a player for City, I was coming to a point where I was thinking about my future.
"Management? Carry on? Sign a new deal? I was watching football from different countries, different places. And I saw Sambi play his first game - his first two games - then he got an injury to his knee.
"But the first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel (Arteta) and said, 'You've got to watch this guy, he's the new Yaya Toure.'
"Anyway, nothing comes of it. He's got a cruciate ligament, and then I ended up falling into the management job at Anderlecht, so I'm working with him now.
"And I had the same conversation about him with Mikel. I still believe the same thing now."
Kompany's assessment will certainly be difficult for Lokonga to live up to, but spending the Tielemans money on a proper backup to holding midfielder Thomas Partey could make more sense than signing another no.8 that would stall Lokonga's development and force the Belgian youngster into playing deeper - where he is clearly not comfortable.
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