Arsenal are refusing to give up on signing Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa this summer, according to The Daily Mail.
The Gunners suffered a big setback last month as William Saliba sustained a back injury playing for France in the World Cup semi-final against Spain.
The centre-back has since been placed on a managed recovery programme. The club have confirmed that he will be out for an extended period.
In his absence, Arsenal are looking for an experienced cover. Konsa is the priority target, and the club have already made an offer for him.
The Gunners proposed to pay £30-35 million for the 28-year-old last month, which was significantly below Villa’s £60m transfer valuation.
Despite the sizeable gap in the price, Arsenal have not given up on landing the Englishman.
Meanwhile, Villa’s squad are ‘increasingly concerned’ that Konsa could be on his way out soon. Liverpool are also monitoring his situation closely.
Arsenal have a huge void to fill in the heart of the defence after Saliba’s untimely setback.
Cristhian Mosquera is the immediate deputy to the Frenchman for the right centre-back role, but the Spaniard had a nervous outing against Real Betis recently.
The former Valencia man was fluent with his distribution, but missed a vital header in the lead-up to the opening goal (3-1 loss). He also lost possession multiple times.
With Ben White exclusively featuring as a right-back nowadays, Jurrien Timber is an option to cover for Saliba, but the Dutchman is nursing a nagging groin issue.
Hence, Arsenal need a more reliable figure to partner Gabriel Magalhaes in central defence, and they may not find many better than Konsa in the Premier League.
Of course, his age has been a topic of interest. The ex-Brentford man will turn 29 in October, but he is in his prime and could offer three to four quality seasons.
In the recent campaign, Konsa had a passing accuracy of 95 percent with almost 70 percent duels won.
The centre-back also made three clearances and four recoveries on average for Unai Emery’s side.
Villa are currently firm on their £60m valuation, but there could be some room for negotiation. A package of £45m plus £5m in add-ons could secure Konsa’s transfer.
Arsenal need to be proactive in their pursuit, given that Liverpool are also involved. The Gunners can’t risk losing another key target to a direct Premier League rival.
The Gunners recently lost their prime forward target in Morgan Rogers. The 23-year-old made the switch to Chelsea, who capitalised and paid more than Arsenal were willing.
Stats from Sofascore