Arsenal remain keen on signing Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa during the ongoing transfer window, according to The Athletic.
The Gunners suffered a sizeable setback last month as William Saliba picked up a back injury on World Cup semi-final duty for France.
The centre-back has opted against surgery but will still be sidelined for an extended period as part of a managed recovery programme.
Alongside Saliba, right-back Jurrien Timber is also nursing a nagging groin problem, and he is still weeks away from returning to action.
This is a prime reason behind Arsenal’s interest in Konsa, given he can comfortably operate as a central defender or as a right-back.
The Athletic now reveal that the Gunners remain in contention to land Konsa, but there is a significant gap between both clubs’ valuations.
Villa are eyeing £60 million for the 28-year-old’s potential sale, but Arsenal currently value the England international at closer to £40m.
The Gunners are less than 10 days away from the Premier League opener against newly-promoted Coventry City at the Emirates Stadium.
Cristhian Mosquera is presently Saliba’s deputy for the right centre-back role and looks poised to partner Gabriel Magalhaes for the season opener.
However, the Spaniard has not looked the most convincing in pre-season, and Arsenal genuinely need a more experienced head in central defence.
Barcelona’s Jules Kounde has emerged as a target in the last 24 hours, but manager Mikel Arteta may ideally want a proven Premier League star.
Konsa is one of the best in the division. The Englishman had a top 2025/26 season for Villa as they finished fourth and won the Europa League.
He had a passing accuracy of 95 percent in the top-flight, winning almost 70 percent of his duels. He averaged three recoveries and four clearances per game.
The former Brentford man went on to impress for England at the World Cup. He scored in the 6-4 thriller win over France in the third-place play-off.
Konsa, described as ‘solid’ and ‘underrated’ by Ollie Watkins, could seamlessly fill the void left by Saliba and also provide good competition to the injury-prone Ben White in the right-back position next term.
There is presently a sizeable gap in valuations between the clubs. Arsenal seem willing to spend £40m compared to Villa’s reported price tag of £60m.
With the inflated transfer valuations this summer, the Gunners may need to propose at least £45m plus £5m in add-ons to persuade Villa to sell Konsa.
The club need to speed up their pursuit, given the Midlands outfit may want a solid replacement in the squad before parting ways with their prized asset.
Stats from Sofascore