Arsenal could place their focus on landing Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, having missed out on John Stones’ signature.
The Gunners are looking at the possibility of signing a right-footed centre-back with William Saliba out for an ‘extended period‘ due to a back injury.
The club have Cristhian Mosquera as a good deputy for the right centre-back role, while Ben White and Jurrien Timber could also occupy the position.
Still, Arsenal seem to be eyeing an experienced cover, considering White and Timber are just returning from knee and groin injuries, respectively.
Stones was earmarked as a target after his release from Manchester City, but the Englishman has chosen to sign for Inter Milan on a two-year contract.
In our view, this could see the Premier League holders step up their pursuit of Konsa despite the sizeable gap in their valuation compared to the Villans.
Arsenal could pay a premium fee to sign Konsa
The 28-year-old has been a consistent performer for the Villans over many seasons and last year was probably his best for the West Midlands outfit.
The Englishman completed 95 percent of his passes in the Premier League and won an impressive 67 percent of his ground and aerial duels for Villa.
Konsa also impressed with his recoveries and ability to clear his lines. He played exclusively as a centre-back for Villa, but showed his versatility at the World Cup.
The former Brentford man has operated as a right-back in his career and recently impressed in the position during the hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Norway.
His versatility and vast league experience could be the reason behind manager Mikel Arteta driving the club’s interest in securing his signature this summer.
The need has now increased with Saliba’s untimely injury, which could potentially see him ruled out for the first half of the 2026/27 campaign with the Gunners.
Arsenal presently value Konsa at £30-35m, while Villa have set an asking price of £60m.
Konsa ‘would like to join‘ the Gunners, but the club may have to pay a premium fee to persuade Unai Emery’s side to part ways with their experienced star.
Villa recently sanctioned Morgan Rogers’ move to Chelsea for £117m, having initially held out for £130m.
Based on that, Arsenal may have to spend at least £50m plus £4-5m in add-ons to secure an agreement with the Europa League holders for Konsa’s signature.
It would represent a huge outlay for a player almost 29, but with the inflated valuations this summer, Arsenal may have to pay more for their prime targets.
Stats from Transfermarkt & Sofascore