Albert Sambi Lokonga continued to impress in pre-season, coming on against Chelsea on Sunday in a game Andre Marriner made sure the Gunners lost, and, afterwards, he spoke to Arsenal media.

“It was really good,” Sambi Lokonga said about playing his first game at the Emirates. “A little bit sad because we didn’t get the three points. But yeah, my first time at the Emirates, I think it’s a good thing for me, a good start. So I hope the future will be better.”

Sambi Lokonga was then asked to asses his own performance in the game and he ignored that question to talk about the team instead. “If I have to speak about the team,” he replied, “we had a really good performance but we gave away the ball and then they scored. But yeah for the next time we have to be careful because I think this kind of goal we can avoid.”

Arsenal finally announced Albert Sambi Lokonga as an Arsenal player in July after lengthy negotiations and the 21-year-old midfielder got his first minutes in an Arsenal shirt when he came on as a sub in Arsenal’s pre-season behind-closed doors win over Millwall.

In an interview with Arsenal.com as the squad prepared to face Chelsea, Sambi Lokonga was asked about his new Arsenal teammates, who he is excited to play with and what players he models himself on, if any.

“I think Pepe [is the one I am most excited to link up with],” Sambi told Arsenal Media. “But I’m also looking forward to playing with Aubameyang, Lacazette, Saka also, so yeah, I hope to have a connection with all the players and quickly.

“I never wanted to be like a [particular] player, I always wanted to be Sambi, so I took a little bit of all the players I used to watch,” he added. “I never said to myself that you need to be like this player, I always wanted to be Sambi and to do Sambi on the pitch.

“If I had to tell you some players, I will say Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Modric, yeah, all the top players, Marco Veratti as well. All the top players.”

Shortly after Sambi Lokonga was announced, Stephen Bradley turned his tactical eye to the Belgian to discuss where he fits in at Arsenal, how he differs from The Gunners’ other midfielders from last season, and what he brings, that Arsenal have been missing for years.

You can watch that in the video below: