Arsenal to repeat Odegaard transfer stunt despite securing "new Yaya Toure"

Arsenal have made a strong start to the transfer window after bringing in four new additions - but are thought to be showing no signs of slowing down.

Brazilian wonderkid Marquinhos was the first to arrive from Sao Paulo before he was joined by Porto playmaker Fabio Vieira shortly after. Back-up shot-stopper Matt Turner arrived from New England Revolution to deputise for Aaron Ramsdale while Gabriel Jesus is the marquee arrival so far after the Gunners forked out £45million to pry him from Manchester City.

There has been plenty of discussion surrounding who the fifth signing might be, with the latest name being touted as Leicester City's Youri Tielemans. This particular transfer saga has been an interesting one as it appears the player wants the move than the buying club.

Arsenal are thought to have agreed personal terms with the Belgian months ago, but then cooled their interest in favour of pursuing other targets. Surprisingly, Leicester have not yet received an official bid for one of their prized midfielders.

Some have posed the theory that the Gunners are in no real rush to secure Tielemans due to the fact they already boast the "new Yaya Toure" in their midfield in the form of ex-Anderlecht man Albert Sambi Lokonga.

The comparison linking Lokonga with the Ivorian was made by Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany - who worked with the 22-year-old back in Belgium.

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Reflecting on the first time he saw Lokonga, Kompany told Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel FIVE: "The first thing I did when I saw Sambi is I went to Mikel and also Pep, but Mikel first and said, 'You got to watch this guy, he's the new Yaya Toure.'

"I'm not sure I'm doing him a favour saying this stuff. Look, you know what I like about Sambi, what Yaya did have, is, he wants the ball no matter what. If the team is not doing well, give the ball to Sambi. Team doing well? Give the ball to Sambi. He will never hide away from his responsibilities."

Despite the glowing review of a midfielder they already signed 12 months ago, Lokonga's hit and miss debut campaign at the club clearly didn't entirely convince Arteta who remains interested in Tielemans but could look to repeat an old transfer trick used last summer on multiple players.

Twelve months ago, the Gunners were constantly linked with both Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale then of Real Madrid and Sheffield United respectively. Instead of lodging bids early, Arsenal bided their time and waited patiently in a tense transfer stand-off.

At varying stages, it seemed certain as if Arteta's side was going to miss out on at least one of them. However, the club held their nerve and executed their tactic masterfully - waiting until the dying stages of the window before lodging their bids.

Arsenal recognised that in both of those instances the selling clubs were evidently desperate to cash in on the players and therefore the Gunners managed to pull off a £54m bargain for both.

It is a similar situation this time around, with Tielemans Leicester contract edging ever closer to expiry. The Foxes surely recognise that the time to cash in on the Belgian is running out and they run the risk of losing him for free in a year's time.

Brendan Rodgers' side are not even reportedly asking for that much at this stage of the window, with a rumoured figure of £30m enough for the King Power hierarchy to sanction Tielemans' departure.

Arsenal may feel that they can drive that asking price down even further by waiting patiently until the window reaches its final knockings.