Arsenal have expressed an interest in signing Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa, according to The Guardian.
The Gunners recently suffered an unfortunate setback as William Saliba picked up a back injury playing for France against Spain.
The centre-back was already nursing a minor back issue and aggravated the concern during Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final.
Arsenal now anticipate that the Frenchman could be sidelined for four to five months, with a possible procedure on the cards.
We recently covered an opinion on Konsa providing cover for Saliba, and The Guardian claim that the Gunners have already expressed an interest in signing the Aston Villa ace.
Konsa would provide good cover for Saliba
Konsa has established himself as one of the best central defenders in the Premier League.
He had a fabulous 2025/26 season with Villa as they finished fourth in the standings and also won the Europa League under manager Unai Emery.
Konsa was a key player in the heart of the backline with a passing accuracy of 95 percent.
He also won 67 percent of his duels with three recoveries and four clearances per game.
The Englishman has similar traits to Saliba. Saliba fares better on progressive passes, but Konsa is more dominant in terms of winning overall duels.
Hence, the 28-year-old would be an ideal acquisition for Arsenal. Even if Saliba returns after a short-term absence, Konsa could slot in as a right-back too.
His versatility is probably a reason why manager Mikel Arteta is driving the pursuit.
Arsenal are already engaged in negotiations with Villa for winger Morgan Rogers and could utilise the talks to finalise a possible deal for Konsa as well.
However, Villa are bound to stand firm on their £60 million valuation. The Midlands outfit have recently lost the services of Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne to Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
Amadou Onana has also suffered a long-term knee injury. Villa could be reluctant to part ways with Konsa for less than £60m. They wanted something similar when Arsenal tried to sign Ollie Watkins last year.
Stats from Sofascore