Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Arsenal’s hopes of selling Lokonga to Crystal Palace surely dealt blow
If there was one player who potentially suffered because of the decision from Crystal Palace to sack Patrick Vieira, it was potentially Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga.
The Belgian has had a really difficult time in the Premier League. He cost Arsenal . But he has become something of a forgotten man on the books of Mikel Arteta’s squad.
A January loan move to Selhurst Park presented Albert Sambi Lokonga with an opportunity. And it seemed to be an opportunity to put himself in the shop window.
Reports from have claimed that Arsenal are likely to sell Lokonga this summer. So the Gunners may have hoped that he would do well enough while away to convince the Eagles to make his move permanent.
Arsenal hopes of selling Lokonga to Crystal Palace surely dealt blow
Initially, Lokonga took a little while to force his way into the team. But things had changed more recently. In fact, he had started their five Premier League games before sitting out the trip to the Emirates for obvious reasons.
However, if Palace did previously have any plans to look at signing Lokonga permanently, those plans are surely now in some doubt.
Unfortunately, Patrick Vieira has since been sacked. And his replacement, Roy Hodgson, has not used Lokonga in either of the two games he has overseen since returning.
Of course, there is still time to go this season. But Palace have been sensational under Hodgson. So there is little reason for the Eagles boss to change things up.
And certainly, if anything like this form continues for the rest of the season, Hodgson’s second spell in charge will continue beyond the summer.
The change in the dug-out has worked for Palace, who already look to be on the cusp of securing safety.
But the same probably cannot be said for Lokonga. He barely missed a minute in the latter stages of Vieira’s tenure.
He is now facing another fight for minutes in the remaining weeks of the campaign. And with that, Arsenal may need another club to come forward if they are going to sell Lokonga.