Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga (born 22 October 1999) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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club Sevilla, on loan from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He came through

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

's youth academy and made his senior debut with the club in 2017.

Club career

Anderlecht

Having first joined their youth academy in 2010, Sambi Lokonga signed his first professional contract with

on 10 November 2017. He made his professional debut for Anderlecht in a 1–0

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

win over

Eupen Eupen (, ; ; formerly ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Liège, from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the "High Fens" na ...

on 22 December 2017. In November 2019, Sambi Lokonga extended his contract with the club until 2023. On 27 September 2020, he scored the first goal of his senior career as Anderlecht drew 1–1 with Eupen.

Arsenal

On 19 July 2021, Sambi Lokonga signed a long-term contract with English club

after completing an approximately £17.2 million transfer, subject to the completion of regulatory processes. Arsenal manager

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...

was impressed with Sambi Lokonga, citing his intelligence and maturity for a young player. Sambi Lokonga made his debut in a 2−0 away loss against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. During his first season at Arsenal he featured in the

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sports docuseries '' All or Nothing: Arsenal,'' which followed the club's progress during their campaign''.''

Loan to Crystal Palace

On 31 January 2023, fellow

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side Crystal Palace announced the signing of Sambi Lokonga on a short-term loan deal until the end of the 2022−23 season. He made his debut for the club on 4 February, coming on as a substitute for

Will Hughes William James Hughes (born 17 April 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Crystal Palace. Having graduated a scholarship with Derby County, Hughes made his first team breakthrough during t ...

in a 2–1 away loss to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Loan to Luton Town

On the final day of the Summer transfer window, Sambi Lokonga joined newly-promoted Premier League side Luton Town on a season-long loan. He made his debut for the club on 16 September in a 1–0 loss against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

; he started the match and played 75 minutes before being substituted. In his second game he picked up a hamstring injury and did not play for three months. Upon returning, he became a regular in the side's midfield; club manager Rob Edwards regularly praised Sambi Lokonga for his stand-out performances in a struggling team. Although the club was eventually relegated to the Championship, his loan at Luton Town was largely seen as successful.

Loan to Sevilla

On 15 July 2024, Sambi Lokonga joined

side Sevilla on a season-long loan deal.

International career

Having previously played for Belgium at Belgium U17, Belgium U19 and Belgium U21 levels, Sambi Lokonga was called up to the senior

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

squad in March 2021. He made his debut on 2 September 2021 in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

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, a 5–2 away victory. He was introduced as a substitute for

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...

in the 74th minute.

Personal life

Sambi Lokonga was born in Verviers, Belgium and is of Congolese descent; his brother

Paul-José M'Poku Paul-José M'Poku Ebunge (born 19 April 1992) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Incheon United FC and the DR Congo national team. Club career Tottenham Hotspur Born in Kinshasa, Zaire, M'Poku moved to Belgium a ...

is also a professional footballer. He can speak several languages at different standards, these include

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Spanish, Dutch and

Ngala Ngala is a local government area of Borno State, Nigeria, adjacent to the border with Cameroon. Its headquarters are in the town of Gamboru Ngala. It has an area of 1,465 km and a population of 237,071 at the 2006 census. The postal code ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sambi Lokonga, Albert 1999 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's international footballers R.S.C. Anderlecht players Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Sevilla FC players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Black Belgian sportspeople 21st-century Belgian sportsmen Belgian sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Footballers from Verviers