Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel, Vincent Kompany has been talking up the talents of Arsenal youngster Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Kompany, of course, knows the midfielder from his time in Belgium. After all, the former Manchester City captain was his manager at Anderlecht before he joined the Gunners.
Kompany says that he actually recommended Lokonga to Arteta, describing him as ‘the new Yaya Toure’.
What’s been said?
Kompany spoke about his first impressions of Lokonga.
“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,” Kompany said.
“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’.”
The Belgian would go on to elaborate on his Toure comparison.
“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 Sambi],” Kompany said.
“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.”
Exciting
Kompany knows his stuff when it comes to football, so this is an incredibly exciting verdict.
Yaya Toure is undoubtedly one of the best midfielders to ever grace the Premier League and if Lokonga goes on to become even half as good as the Manchester City legend then Arsenal will have a serious player on their hands.
Mikel Arteta seemingly listened to Kompany’s advice, and Arsenal could end up benefitting from this signing for years to come.
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