'Very pleased': Manager says he's signed an 'excellent' £17m player from Arsenal

Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga is making an impact at Luton Town following an ‘excellent’ debut for the Premier League newcomers last weekend. 

Rob Edwards’ side are improving week-on-week – their defensive organisation coming on leaps and bounds since that opening day battering by Brighton – and a player of genuine quality in Albert Sambi Lokonga can only aid The Hatters’ hopes of getting some much-needed points on the board sooner rather than later. 

A Belgium international and formerly the captain of Anderlecht, Lokonga arrived on loan from an Arsenal side who paid £17 million to bring him to the Emirates two years earlier. 

And the 23-year-old – with his poise in possession and his intelligent use of the ball – is already proving himself to be a stand-out in a rather workmanlike Luton exit. 

Arsenal’s Albert Lokonga impressing at Luton town

“I thought (Lokonga) was excellent,” Edwards says, via Yardbanker; the deadline day signing making his Luton bow in that 1-0 defeat by Fulham last time out. 

“His use of the ball was good. His work-rate was very good as well. He’s an intelligent footballer and will give us some really nice balance between defensive solidity and then also some really good football as well.

“So I’m very pleased with him.”

Lokonga arrives at Luton with a point to prove, having fallen out of favour at Arsenal before struggling on loan at Crystal Palace. And that should only benefit a Hatters side promoted against the odds, and lacking any real Premier League experience outside of the Liege-born playmaker. 

Luton still awaiting their first point

“He certainly wasn’t (a favourite at Arsenal),” Gunners legend Martin Keown told talkSPORT (1 September, 10.30am) before Lokonga signed on the dotted line at Kenilworth Road. 

“Luton have spent a small amount of money. I am a bit concerned for them. If you look at the teams who have gone up, there is a massive gulf in class.

“So (Lokonga) is a good signing.”

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