Official
What has been in the making since the end of June now seems imminent: The transfer of Anderlecht’s Albert Sambi Lokonga to Arsenal. The Belgian club published a farewell message for their homegrown talent on Twitter on Monday: “All the best, Albert. A lifetime of purple.” Apparently a bit premature, because a short time later the message was offline again.
Update 3:05 pm BST: Arsenal have officially confirmed the transfer on Monday afternoon.
Anderlecht just removed an official announcement from Sambi Lokonga (to Arsenal). #AFC pic.twitter.com/8MagZVbohC
— Sven Claes (@svenclaes) July 19, 2021
RSC Anderlecht are set to receive a transfer fee of €17.5 million plus bonuses of up to €4 million for the central midfielder. In addition, the Belgians reportedly secured themselves a sell-on clause.
In the ranking of Anderlecht’s record sales, Lokonga’s upcoming transfer puts him ahead of Romelu Lukaku (Inter), among others, who left the club for Chelsea in 2011. Lokonga is a member of the Belgian national team and has been a regular in head coach Vincent Kompany’s side since the 2019/20 season.
Lukaku & Co. – The most valuable players from Anderlecht’s academy
For Arsenal, the Belgian will be the second new arrival for the upcoming season. Previously, left-back Nuno Tavares was signed for €8 million from Benfica.
