Patrick Vieira raided his former club for Albert Sambi Lokonga on deadline day (Photo: Crystal Palace)
Patrick Vieira has hinted that Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga will make his Crystal Palace debut at Manchester United on Saturday.
Lokonga was one of two midfielders to sign for Palace on deadline day, the other being Naouirou Ahamada who joined from Stuttgart for a fee of £9.7million.
The Eagles have been in need of new box-to-box player since Conor Gallagher returned to Chelsea at the end of last season, and fans will be hoping that the two new additions can fill that void.
Arsenal fans will also be hopeful that Gunners legend Vieira can improve Lokonga who has so far struggled to settle at the Emirates, making just two Premier League starts this season.
And that is what the Palace boss promised to do in his pre-match press conference, saying: ‘[Lokonga] has experience of knowing the Premier League. He has got technical ability to play well and to improve our play.
‘I still believe that there is more to come from him, because he is capable of running in behind and getting involved in the opposition box. His mobility and strength will help us.
‘What is important is for him to get more involved and play more games. We will give him that opportunity. Of course, he will have to work hard to deserve to get that space.
Naouirou Ahamada also joined Palace on deadline day (Photo: Crystal Palace)
‘But he believes that this was the right decision for the next step for his career, and we will work with him and improve him like we did with a couple of other players we had on loan.
‘I’m really pleased with the two players that we managed to bring in. It’s a different profile to what we have and that will give me a different option in the games. Both of them will be in the squad tomorrow.’
It will be an incredibly tricky game for Lokonga and Palace, who travel to a United team that have won their last 12 games at Old Trafford.
The Eagles meanwhile have one just one of their last nine matches but did snatch a late draw against the Red Devils just over two weeks ago in the reverse fixture, thanks to a stunning Michael Olise free-kick.
Vieira added: ‘They [United] are in a really good period – they are playing well, scoring a lot of goals. But we played them recently and we went toe-to-toe against them.
‘We worked very hard against them, we played some good football at times but if we want a positive result we have to raise the quality of the game. We know how difficult it will be but again we have the attributes to play a really good game of football against them.’
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Lokonga could make his Crystal Palace debut against Man Utd.
