When Mohamed Elneny ruptured his hamstring in the final week of the summer transfer window, with Thomas Partey already injured, Arsenal’s reaction was instructive for Albert Sambi Lokonga. They spent deadline day chasing down Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz. Going after a Kia Joorabchian client on deadline day is the clearest possible sign that Arsenal are sailing somewhere close to panic mode.
Elneny returned within two months, and Thomas Partey was playing again within three weeks of the end of the term. There are some caveats, of course. Elneny recovered ahead of schedule and Partey’s fitness always feels like glass. However, Arteta did not want to consider the possibility of Sambi Lokonga playing in the deepest midfield on a semi-long basis. This is partly because the decision was clearly made during the spring that the ‘Party role’ was not better suited to Sambi’s qualities.
After a pair of defeats to Brighton and Southampton in April, Arteta took Sambi out of the firing line and installed Mohamed Elneny in that deeper role. The Egyptian’s performances were enough to earn him a one-year contract extension. The idea was clear, Elneny was going to be Partey’s backup and Sambi Lokonga’s skills were considered more suitable for Granit Xhaka’s current role.
The problem is that, for Sambi, there is even more traffic in front of him in that position. Fabio Vieira certainly seems to be a preferred alternative, perhaps even Emile Smith Rowe too when he is fit. It’s hard to imagine that Arsenal’s next big purchase on the market won’t be a midfielder with Partey and Xhaka entering their thirties. It’s also worth remembering that at the time Sambi signed, Xhaka looked set to join Roma. That he finally stayed meant another obstruction to first-team minutes.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a path to that role for the Belgian. He played there in the recent Europa League match against FC Zurich and he had a very mixed night in my opinion. I think the problem for Sambi is one of identity. I’m not sure anyone really knows what it is yet. In Arteta’s system, where there are almost always five players in front of the ball and five behind, a gap has not been made.
To me, he doesn’t particularly look like he wants to be behind or in front of the ball. He wants to be in it and follow him and it makes me wonder if he fits or can fit Arteta’s positional style of play. His performances in the deeper role have not been spectacular, if not disastrous. The problem for him there is that any comparison with Partey is going to be unfavorable.
Sambi is pretty good at making interceptions in midfield, which is one of Partey’s key strengths, knowing when to jump out of his bunker to gobble up loose balls. Partey is averaging 1.28 interceptions per 90 (via FBRef) with Sambi at 1.07. However, Partey makes 2.22 tackles for 90 with Sambi at 0.80. He doesn’t have the presence that Partey has in that role and that’s logical, actually, not many midfielders in the Premier League do.
Again, understandably, I think Sambi seems a bit reserved when playing a deeper role. He understands the amount of responsibility he takes on as the sole pivot in midfield and I think it leads him to be extremely cautious. It would not be surprising if the Belgian’s confidence has not tanked during his time in north London as well.
Last season’s All or Nothing documentary captured footage of a moon-faced swap between Sambi and Eddie Nketiah. Nketiah demanded to know why Sambi’s effusiveness at London Colney had diminished so much to which Lokonga replied: “I smile when I’m playing.” Nketiah’s retort, “do you think you’re the only one not playing?” It looked worse for Lokonga given the way Eddie eventually came into the team and made a difference.
That snippet was also unfortunate for Lokonga because it likely helped shape opinions about him within the fanbase. While Nketiah certainly broke into the team and made a difference, his performances were compared to Alex Lacazette’s absolutely impoverished forward play, as opposed to crucial prop Thomas Partey.
Earlier this season, I spoke to Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall about his decision to immediately loan out 19-year-old summer signing Gio Queiroz to Everton. “She is a young player but she is used to playing a lot of first team football. She played a lot in Spain. I didn’t want her to take a step back from where she is in her career right now by not playing regular minutes.”
It made me think of Sambi and how difficult it must have been for him to adapt and go from being the captain of Anderlecht, one of their most important players and someone who was part of the Belgium national team, to a player on the fringes of a club like Arsenal. The sense of melancholy doesn’t just extend to that canteen exchange with Nketiah.
In October, he criticized Belgium coach Roberto MartÃnez, “Maybe MartÃnez doesn’t believe in my qualities or doesn’t like my style. But I prefer that you communicate it clearly. He would have accepted his decision without hesitation. Anyway, the chances of him making the World Cup team were slim, but out of frustration, he preferred to set the olive branch on fire.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that it probably won’t happen to Sambi at Arsenal. I think the club will spend a lot on a midfielder in the summer (maybe even in January) and that will smooth out his departure. With no more Europa League or League Cup group stage games, I think the club could probably afford to loan him out in January and fatten him up for a summer sale.
However, that does not mean that it was a bad signing. He has helped Arsenal protect Partey in less important competitions and that’s really what the Europa League rotation is all about. It’s not really about development or even giving game time to the players on the team, that’s a purely side benefit. The main reason for this turnover is to protect the parents instead of taking care of the children.
It looks like Sambi has now entered a trap 22 at Arsenal where he needs regular minutes to flourish and realistically he’s just not going to get that in North London. Hopefully his age and profile will keep the club unaffected by a sales fee, it was a low-cost gamble that hasn’t really had dramatic consequences.
That’s the advantage of buying young, you can move on quickly. However, younger players also tend to need the pace of the games and can’t really get it in these hidden roles, as Emi Martinez and Joe Willock have found in recent seasons (and both brought in good money for Arsenal). An experienced campaigner like Elneny is much better suited for an occasional report, but tends to cost more on the market and has a bigger drawback when moves don’t work.
Everyone knew upon signing that Sambi would need time to adjust and grow at Arsenal. While Partey is still there, Arsenal don’t really need Sambi to be much more than a backup. The question then is whether Arteta believes there are enough ingredients to train him in a more positional style of play, as he was prepared to do with Martinelli, for example.
The tea leaves suggest that this is not going to happen. When Aubameyang went into exile, Arteta relied on Martinelli to assume the role of left back and did not sign again to strengthen the lead. When Partey and Elneny had mid-term injuries, Arsenal tried to sign another midfielder and I think that tells us all we need to know.
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