As the story goes, Arsenal completed a £17m deal for Albert Sambi Lokonga during the 2021 summer transfer window after he was recommended as the 'new Yaya Toure' to Mikel Arteta.
These were former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany's exact words when speaking to Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel ‘FIVE’ after seeing the midfielder up close at Anderlecht during his time as manager of the Belgian outfit: "The first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel and also Pep, but Mikel first and said, "You got to watch this guy, he’s the new Yaya Toure. Anyway, nothing comes of it, he’s got a cruciate ligament [injury].
"Then I fall into the management job at Anderlecht, so I’m working with him. I had the same conversation with Mikel and I believe the same thing now. I'm not sure I'm doing him a favour saying this stuff, but look, you know what I like about Sambi, what Yaya did have, is, he wants the ball no matter what."
