Arsenal's updated squad depth chart as Ezri Konsa deal edges closer
Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, with the player expected to be unveiled to the Emirates crowd prior to the game against Coventry City on Friday night.
The Gunners have been in the market for a new central defender for several weeks after it was revealed that William Saliba will miss the opening few months of the season with a back injury. Courting the likes of John Stones, Jarell Quansah and Jacobo Ramon, they finally landed on Konsa after Villa agreed to lower their price demands to around £51 million.
The centre-back will join Arsenal's defensive cohort, which now looks remarkably strong across the board. In fact, the Gunners' depth chart in general is now in an incredibly healthy place. There are arguably no squads on the planet that possess the breadth of talent in every single position that Mikel Arteta's does.
Every single role has at least three capable options, with many versatile players able to operate in a multitude of different positions. If the Gunners can add one more dynamic left-winger to their ranks, their squad will arguably be complete.
Ezri Konsa signing gives Arsenal the best defensive depth in the world
Looking across the best teams in Europe, Arsenal's level of defensive depth is unparalleled.
Liverpool are a Virgil van Dijk injury away from relying on a centre-back pairing of Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Aruajo. At full-back, their current depth pieces are Conor Bradley, recovering from an ACL injury, and Konstantinos Tsimikas, who spent last season on loan at Roma because Arne Slot couldn't trust him.
Manchester City are still reliant on the likes of Rico Lewis and Rayan Ait-Nouri to play minutes at full-back, and if one of Marc Guehi, Josko Gvardiol or Ruben Dias gets injured, they'll need to call upon a pool of youngsters.
Paris Saint-Germain will go into the new season with Lucas Beraldo and Lucas Digne as regular contributors. Real Madrid come close to Arsenal's level of depth, but the quality arguably isn't the same. Error-prone Ibrahima Konate and 33-year-old Antonio Rudiger will likely start as their centre-back pairing this season.
Bayern Munich still start the functional, but unspectacular Konrad Laimer at right-back. Barcelona have an outstanding prodigee in Pau Cubarsi, but Premier League flops Andreas Christiansen and Eric Garcia are often his partner.
None of these defensive units are close to Arsenal's. Everywhere you look, there is quality. If Saliba and Gabriel are both unavailable, the Gunners can still field a centre-back partnership of Konsa and Mosquera - a duo most teams would dream of having as their starting pair.
The full-back cohort of White, Timber, Calafiori and Hincapie gives Arsenal the perfect blend of attributes. There is a different pairing for each type of opposition or tactical conundrum that needs solving.
It says a lot about Arteta that he's backloaded his squad, but my word, has he backloaded it.
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