Sevilla ended the La Liga season in 14th with a disappointing 41 points and this summer many of their best players are leaving. With new coach Francisco Javier García Pimienta, Sevilla are looking to improve on last season and earn the ticket to play European football next season. Desperate to turn around their fortunes, the Andalusian side have made several adjustments to their squad in the first two months of the transfer window.

Peque Fernández has joined from Racing Santander for €4 million and Chidera Ejuke has arrived on a free transfer from CSKA Moscow, with the two new arrivals looking to fill the void of Érik Lamela and Youssef En-Nesyri in attack. Thomas Delaney and Óliver Torres have left as well, leaving a gaping hole in midfield. In order to shore up the center of the pitch, they have signed Saúl Ñíguez on loan from Atlético Madrid.

In addition, Albert Sambi Lokonga has signed on loan from Arsenal after two loan spells in England with Crystal Palace and Luton Town, and he will be looking to take this Sevilla side to the upper half of the table. In this article, we will be taking a deep dive into Lokonga’s strengths and weaknesses and how he can be of use to Sevilla’s new manager:

Name: Albert Sambi Lokonga

Position: Center Midfielder/Defensive Midfielder

Country: Belgium

Age: 24

Height: 183cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Last Club: Arsenal

Lokonga was brought up in the academy of Anderlecht and was in the first team for three seasons before joining Arsenal for €17.5 million. He spent one season at Arsenal where he didn’t have much game time and went on loan in the next two seasons to Crystal Palace and Luton Town.

In this image, we can see that Lokonga has a high number of forward passes/90 with the second-highest success rate. This highlights his ability to progress the ball into more advanced positions. This also shows that he provides an improvement to Sevilla’s previous options in midfield in this aspect, and could be indispensable for a possession-based side like Sevilla under García Pimienta.

In this image, we can observe that Lokonga’s pass volume must increase if he is to become the deep-lying playmaker for García Pimienta’s side as he has lower numbers than Ivan Rakitić. Nonetheless, he does show potential in this aspect thanks to his high precision.

Here we can see that Lokonga’s defending is not one of his strengths nor is it one of his weaknesses as although his success rate is relatively low, he participates in many defensive duels. In this aspect, he suffers more than Sevilla’s previous options and is a place where they will have to add depth as Djibril Sow also lacks in this area. Nonetheless, since Sevilla will most likely have possession in most matches, this aspect is not as important.

From this image, we can deduce that Lokonga dominates his aerial duels as he has the second-highest success rate in these actions behind Sow, though it is also true that he doesn’t participate in many aerial duels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is an excellent signing for Sevilla as Lokonga has shown quality in his technical attributes, something needed since Rakitić left the club in January. In addition, he doesn’t lack defensively in either aerial duels or defensive duels in the Premier League, meaning that, he mustn’t have any trouble in these aspects in a less physical league like La Liga. Finally, he is a perfect fit to the Sevilla squad as their new manager García Pimienta has a possession-based system, so his forward passing will be put into great use. Nonetheless, his pass volume must increase if he is to fill Rakitić’s void in midfield and succeed in Spanish football.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Stuart MacFarlane – Arsenal FC