William Saliba bids farewell as 25-yr-old posts Arsenal farewell in the last hours
Arsenal players shared a reaction after a teammate has shared an emotional farewell message following their official exit.
Arsenal had a busy summer window with eight new players coming through the door, as well as plenty of exits as Mikel Arteta reshaped his squad.
The Gunners spent more money in this window than they have done in any other previous ones, signing the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, while Arsenal even hijacked Tottenham’s deal for Eberechi Eze.
Plenty of late departures were also announced as Oleksandr Zinchenko joined Nottingham Forest, Jakub Kiwior completed a move to Porto, and Albert Sambi Lokonga signed for Hamburg.
Now, Lokonga has shared an emotional goodbye message to the supporters and his teammates, which saw numerous reactions on social media.
Arsenal stars react as Sambi Lokonga says goodbye
Sambi Lokonga shared a heartfelt post on Instagram on Thursday that highlighted his time at the club following his permanent departure to German club Hamburg.
He mentioned that it was “an honour to play” for the club, and that “I am leaving this club in a much better place”. His post saw his former teammates share reactions as William Saliba commented “Strength my brother” and Gabriel Magalhaes left heart emojis.
Other players also sent a reaction with Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard all liking the message.
The Belgian midfielder joined the Gunners back in 2021 from Anderlecht for a fee in the region of £16 million, but never made his mark in the first team.
Football Insider revealed back in April that Sambi Lokonga will likely leave Arsenal permanently this summer as he is not in Arteta’s plans.
He went on to make 39 appearances for the club, but after a difficult debut campaign, he spent subsequent seasons on loan at Crystal Palace, Luton Town and Sevilla.
| Clubs | Appearances | Goals |
| Arsenal | 39 | 0 |
| Anderlecht | 78 | 3 |
| Luton | 19 | 1 |
Arsenal make Gabriel Martinelli transfer decision
Another player that looked like he could also be out the door was Gabriel Martinelli, but the club decided to keep him.
A report from the Daily Mail revealed that Arsenal decided against selling Martinelli, after interest from clubs reached the £40m mark, short of their £60m valuation.
The Brazilian has already struggled so far this season, but time will tell whether Arsenal will view that decision as a missed opportunity to gain funds