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Arsenal hold an interest in Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, according to reports.
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The Telegraph claim that manager Mikel Arteta is keen on signing the England international as a replacement for Ben White.
Konsa has two years left on his contract at Villa Park and his asking price is said to be in the region of £60m. Fans on X are very sceptical about making a move for the player:
We can do better than this surely? And £60m give yet head a wobble arsenal!
— matt ward (@Mattwno1Ward) July 2, 2026
Bang average centre half, older than our starters and wildly overpriced. No thanks
— TomP AFC (@TomP2809928699) July 2, 2026
What a pointless signing. Mosquera already a better player. Watch us drop 60m on Konsa and sell him for 20m next season
— Adge (@aj7official) July 2, 2026
We need to give arteta a transfer ban on buying defenders and focus on our attack
— Moey (@Moyoswift) July 2, 2026
Hasn't been great at the World Cup
— Davy Barry (@DavBarry155) July 2, 2026
Arteta likes multi-functional defenders
The fact that the Gunners boss is the one driving the interest in Konsa is not a surprise whatsoever.
Arteta was behind the moves for both Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie, who are equally comfortable playing at left-back or in the middle of defence.
Konsa, like White, would give Arteta the same option on the opposite flank. Villa have usually deployed him as a centre-half, but he has been given plenty of minutes on the right-hand side of defence. 44 of his starts for the Midlands club have been as a fullback.
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What does this mean for Arsenal’s pursuit of Rogers?
With Villa having reportedly slapped a £130m price tag on Morgan Rogers, it means the Gunners will have to make a decision on whether they want to splash out a staggering £190m on the pair.
Considering there were reports heading into the summer that sporting director Andrea Berta needed to raise funds through player sales first before making big purchases, it seems unlikely that the budget is there to sign both Rogers and Konsa at the moment.
Negotiating down the price may work for Konsa, due to his contract situation, but Villa are in a strong negotiating position when it comes to Rogers, who put pen to paper on a new six-year deal back in November.