Kompany recommended "new Yaya Toure" to Arsenal but transfer hasn't worked out

11 November 2023 , 07:00

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Vincent Kompany's Burnley have made a slow start to the season (Image: Getty Images)

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany will have his hands full when he takes on Arsenal on Saturday, but one player he recommended to the Gunners won't be on the home side's teamsheet.

Albert Sambi Lokonga, who played under Kompany at Anderlecht, moved to Arsenal for around £18million in July 2021. After the transfer, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta revealed that Kompany had highly recommended Lokonga due to his standout performances in Belgium, saying: "I know Vincent very well and he talks so highly about Albert and the positive impact he had to Anderlecht in recent seasons."

Lokonga started life at Arsenal relatively impressively, making 25 appearances for the club in all competitions in his first season. However, he was to slip down the pecking order as the Gunners' fortunes improved under Arteta, and after being shipped out to Crystal Palace on loan midway through last season he joined Luton on another loan deal at the start of this campaign. Injury has restricted his progress at Kenilworth Road though, and so far he has only featured twice for the Hatters.

Kompany has once predicted big things for Lokonga though, telling Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with Five YouTube channel of his potential shortly before his move to Arsenal..

"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?" Kompany shared. "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.

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Albert Sambi Lokonga has never quite settled at Arsenal (Getty Images)

"But the first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel 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 end 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."

When challenged by Ferdinand on his Toure claim, Kompany joked: "I'm not sure I'll do him a favour by saying this kind of stuff. What I like with Sambi - and it's rare in football, what Yaya did have - is he wants the ball no matter what. If the teams not doing well, give the ball to Sambi. If the team's doing well, give the ball to Sambi. He will never hide away from his responsibility.

"He has things he has to improve... if he remembers the conversations we've had, he will know exactly what he still has to work on. But at the same time... Yaya was a finisher and that's a very rare thing to have. I don't know about that [with Lokonga].

"The point is you need players who are not afraid to have the ball when the going gets tough. As a centre-back, your job stops at a certain point on the ball. And you need to be able to give it to people who see the next pass, see the next move, take responsibility, take people on and put that tempo in when there's no tempo in the game anymore. For me, that's what Sambi has that makes him special.

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Kit Mann