“I will always follow” – Kompany quizzed on signing PL player for Burnley, manager says 23-year-old was “great promise”

Arsenal’s Albert Sambi Lokonga played under Vincent Kompany, now at Burnley, when the two were at Anderlecht.

The current Championship coach managed the midfielder in his debut season at the Jupiler Pro League side and he was then sold to Arsenal in 2021. A year later, Kompany left Anderlecht for Burnley and has already helped them achieve promotion back to the Premier League.

Kompany appeared as a guest on Café Constant podcast, relayed by Voetbal Nieuws, where the Clarets boss revealed that he follows every player who has represented the Belgian club.

“I’m going to keep it very simple. I always follow every player who has been associated with Anderlecht. I just try to see how they evolve,” he said.

Lokonga has struggled to have a key role at Arsenal and was loaned out to Crystal Palace in the winter market. The Belgium international was a regular for the Eagles until Patrick Vieira was replaced by Roy Hodgson last month.

Kompany was asked about the possibility of reuniting with the 23-year-old at Burnley in the summer.

“Lokonga? We are now talking about Sambi and that does not mean anything about a transfer for next season,” Kompany explained.

“He had a serious injury and was a great promise for the club. He came back strong and became very important and was also very important financially for Anderlecht, we must not forget that.”

Despite Kompany following Lokonga [and others associated with Anderlecht], it’s unlikely the Arsenal player would end up joining Burnley next season because he already ruled out this possibility last month.