Albert Sambi Lokonga has become Arsenal's second signing of the summer after he completed his move from Anderlecht on Monday.
The Belgian is only 21-years-of-age but has already made 78 appearances for his boyhood club, captaining them on 26 occasions.
He arrives at the Emirates ahead of a season where he is expected to compete with established names like Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny for a starting spot in Mikel Arteta's first team.
The deal however, seemed to take an age to get over the line due to a number of unforeseen setbacks, but having finally secured the transfer the Gunners' latest acquisition revealed that he was delighted to have made the move.
"Really happy because it was very long so I’m happy to be close to the end," he told Arsenal.com.
"It’s a big move because I've been playing for Anderlecht for 10 years so it’s going to be my first big move to another country," he added.
From Sambi's end it seemed as though there was no hesitation though when it came to securing the transfer to North London as he told the story of how the move had come about.
"I heard about this I think two games I has a hand with the president of the club. He told me about the interest of Arsenal," he said.
"My lawyer also told me about the interest of Arsenal and I didn’t hesitate for one second. I told them excuse me but I will go there."
Despite being well known around Europe after his impressive performances in the Jupiler League, plenty of fans are unaware of what to expect from Sambi. Thankfully he was able to reveal a bit more about himself and his playing style.
"I prefer people to judge me," he said. "I don’t like to speak about myself.
"But I can’t wait to be at the stadium to play with my teammates, to be at the Emirates Stadium I can’t wait."
"I can play both as a six and I can play like box to box. But yeah people say I'm better on the six position," he went on to add.
Again it appears that the close partnership of Mikel Arteta and Edu played a huge role in convincing Sambi to make the move to North London.
"I have to thank the coach and Edu because they really wanted me to be here," he said.
"I know that they want to play with a lot of young guys. I know that Arsenal have a good academy and in Anderlecht we also have a good academy.
"A lot of young players with a lot of talent. So for me it’s not going to change a lot."
Sambi will working under a former Arsenal captain in Arteta, but he has already had experience of training with a former Gunners skipper. While away with the Belgian national team he was coached by Thierry Henry, who returned as Roberto Martinez's assistant for the summer's Euros.
The 21-year-old revealed he learnt a lot from the club legend.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah it was really great," he said. "A good experience because in the few times I was with him on the pitch I learned a lot, so it was really a great experience."
There has been some confusion as to how exactly to refer to the Belgian, with most reports referring to him as Lokonga, but when asked, the youngster revealed what he preferred to be called.
"First my full name is Albert-Mboyo Sambi Lokonga," he said.
"People call me Sambi most of the time. Yeah it’s fine Sambi or Albert but you can call me Sambi it’s fine."
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