COMMENT: Albert Sambi Lokonga. He's just blown up his international career. Is he about to do the same at Arsenal...?

Eddie Nketiah offered his teammate - his peer - some sage advice last season. In the London Colney canteen. In front of the doco cameras. Nketiah attempted to set a moping Lokonga straight.

Quizzed by teammates why he had become so withdrawn when compared to the start of the season, the Belgian replied: "I was playing!"

The explanation produced an instant response from an unimpressed Nketiah: "So what my friend? You think you're the only man not f***ing playing my friend?

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself."

It came off as a senior player setting a young teammate straight. But there's barely 12 months between them. Nketiah's reaction was simply driven from his approach; his attitude towards how to survive at a club like Arsenal. No-one likes a sulk. No-one appreciates a moaner. Particularly not in a team environment. But after Lokonga's latest foray into the public sphere, it seems the penny never dropped.

Speaking to La Dernière Heure earlier this week, Lokonga let rip. Against both his club manager, Mikel Arteta, and Belgium coach Roberto Martinez. Lokonga accusing the pair of holding him back.

"I'm at one of the best clubs in England," he stated. "I could have played somewhere else every weekend, but that wouldn't have been the right solution for me.

"At the end of last season, I almost snapped. I called my agent to ask him if staying at Arsenal was a good idea."

To be fair, between the complaints, there was an admission that "I didn't perform at my best level", but there was no great show of personal responsibility. As Lokonga admitted, he was all ready to quit in a fit of pique before his agent's intervention.

Then it was Martinez's turn. Lokonga letting loose after failing to make the pitch in the March ties against the Republic of Ireland and Burkina Faso. Having assembled a squad of players with less than 50 caps for the games, Martinez left Lokonga on the bench for both.

"I called him the day after the international match in March," recalled Lokonga. "I was really p***ed off. I thought for a moment that I didn't even want to play for the national team anymore. I was disgusted.

"Martinez said he preferred players who are playing regularly at their club. He was also not completely satisfied with my training. I don't think he can portray me as a bad boy who doesn't work hard. It would be too easy to put up such a picture of me. He can't use something like that to justify why I don't get to play."

Problem for Lokonga was that Martinez did use such reasons for not playing him. Reasons that Nketiah was pointing to during that exchange last season. Something isn't working. His teammates. His manager. His national team coach. All independent of eachother, but all showing that Lokonga isn't performing as he should.

This season should've been the breakout for the Belgian. With midfield rivals Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey both sidelined in the opening weeks, an opening was there for Lokonga to fill. To establish himself. To prove that he was right to "snap" over the lack of opportunities last season.

But he hasn't taken it. He's had opportunity. But, upon Partey's return to fitness, Lokonga just hasn't done enough to warrant the manager sticking with him. And Arteta wants him to succeed. He needs him to. Lokonga is an Arteta signing. He's an Edu signing. For the pair to convince the board to release more funds for future additions, they need the likes of Lokonga to prove they're getting it right.

But that will only stretch so far. Then the intangibles come into play. The qualities that make or break a club career. Personality. Loyalty. Beyond talent. Beyond potential. Will Arteta and Edu want to keep Lokonga around? Can they trust him not to blow them up as he did Martinez this week? Is he a good teammate? Is he giver? Does his presence enhance the group? All these things matter. And they will determine Lokonga's future.

Of course, those close to the player will insist this is unfair. That this portrayal is wrong. And if so, then the onus is on them to correct this public reputation. The two most impactful characterisations of Lokonga have been that canteen exchange and this week's interview. And neither place the player in a positive light. If it can be fixed, his management team should be making it happen.

For at the moment, all we have is a 22 year-old midfielder, with too few games, too few performances, talking his way out of an international career. Is he about to do the same at Arsenal...?