Burnley: Clarets make Sambi Lokonga top target
The club wants to sort out a deal for the player that would see him move to Turf Moor on loan first.
Newly promoted Burnley wants to sort out a deal for Albert Sambi Lokonga that could see him eventually join them on a permanent basis, with the club making the player their top target this summer, according to Football Insider.
Is Burnley signing Sambi Lokonga during the transfer window?
The Arsenal man has spent the second half of the 2022/23 campaign on loan with Crystal Palace in the Premier League but has struggled to play as much as he would probably like. He’s started only six times for the Eagles in the top flight, and previous to that, he had only six appearances for the Gunners before he was shipped out.
It means that since making the move to England in 2021, he has managed the equivalent of just under 21 matches. Prior to that, he was managing at least 20 starts a season with Anderlecht in Belgium in the two previous campaigns, but those opportunities have since been halved and halved again.
It means that he will no doubt be desperate to get on the field more regularly as a first-teamer in the next campaign. It appears that Burnley could be prepared to offer him that chance, with Football Insider reporting that the Clarets want to seal a deal for a player they have now made their “top target” ahead of the transfer window.
With the Clarets having already entered talks for the midfielder, it adds that they would like to do a deal that would let Vincent Kompany try the player before they buy him.
Having made contact over a loan deal, it appears they now have their heart set on adding a clause that could see him join up with the club on a full-time basis. It would mean Sambi Lokonga joins them on loan initially, before then having the chance to make a permanent switch to Turf Moor if the youngster and Burnley are happy to do so.
This claim comes amid initial reports that a transfer would only be a short-term deal. Instead, there is now a “strong chance” that any move could eventually lead to Sambi Lokonga leaving Arsenal permanently.
Will Arsenal sell Albert Sambi Lokonga?
The midfielder could soon be on his way out of the Emirates Stadium then despite having only joined in 2021 and rarely featured.
Sambi Lokonga is valued at €10m (£8m) by CIES Football Observatory, which could indicate Arsenal can generate a decent amount of money if they did opt to let him leave permanently. It would be a rather big fee for Burnley to pay, but with the Clarets having received money upon promotion, they could likely find the funds if needed when the permanent option came into play.
He would likely be worth the fee, too, with Vincent Kompany already clearly a big fan of the player as he called him “special” in the past. His 6.79 WhoScored rating in the Europa League hints at this, and if Burnley can get that level of performance out of him on a regular basis, then it could be a great deal for the Clarets if they pull it off this summer window.
