ARSENAL fans are already hailing Albert Lokonga as ‘better than Paul Pogba’ after an impressive showing against rivals Tottenham.
The 21-year-old was making only his second start for the Gunners following his £17million arrival from Anderlecht last month.
Lokonga made his debut on Wednesday during a friendly match with Watford at London Colney.
But his first real test came in the friendly clash with bitter rivals Spurs.
Although Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat, the midfielder passed his test with flying colours.
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And fans took to social media to hail Lokonga, with some Gooners even comparing him to Manchester United’s World Cup winner Pogba.
One tweeted: “Lokonga seems to be absolute quality, love how he plays small passes in the box but hard to read so they actually work out extremely well.”
Another said: “Lokonga could be the difference between us having a decent season or a disastrous one.”
A third added: “Don’t want to sound dramatic. But Lokonga is levels above Pogba.”
Lokonga is one of three players Arsenal have signed so far this summer alongside defenders Ben White and Nuno Tavares.
The Gunners have still faced doubts for their lack of attacking reinforcements and Mikel Arteta was quizzed about whether the club will sign anyone else before the start of the new season.
He said: “What we have is what we have to maximise and worrying about things we don’t have at the moment, there’s no point.
“My energy is all on the players we have, to make them better and make them a bigger threat and win matches.”
Arteta also hinted that Newcastle are closing in on a £22million deal for midfielder Joe Willock.
The England Under-21 international midfielder was missing from the game against Spurs on Sunday despite training with the squad on Saturday.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk