Arsenal have reached an agreement for Albert Sambi Lokonga to join Sevilla on a season-long loan.
Lokonga completed a £17million move from Anderlecht to Arsenal back in 2021 and went on to make 24 appearances in a promising debut season at the Emirates.
But the 24-year-old has struggled to nail down regular playing time under Mikel Arteta
and has spent the past 18 months on loan at Crystal Palace and Luton, where he impressed last term.
While Luton suffered relegation from the Premier League, Lokonga received widespread
praise for his accomplished performances in the middle of the park alongside Ross Barkley.
However, Arsenal deems Lokonga surplus to requirements for next season – with Jorginho,
Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard are all vying for minutes in the engine room –
and the Gunners are keen for the Belgian to go out on loan for a third time in as many years.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal and Sevilla have now struck a deal for Lokonga,
which will see the La Liga outfit cover the midfielder’s salary for the upcoming campaign.
A date has been pencilled in for Lokonga’s medical and Sevilla will have
an option to buy the Belgium international outright for a fee of €12m (£10m) next summer.
Arsenal had initially insisted on an obligation-to-buy clause in any potential deal for Lokonga but Sevilla has managed to persuade the north London giants to relax their demands.
Lokonga – who was left out of Belgium’s squad for this summer’s European Championships –
still has two years remaining on his current contract with Arsenal.
The former Anderlecht star has made a total of 39 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners and is yet to score for the club.
Last season, Lokonga scored once and registered three assists for Luton in the English top flight.