Statistic emerges showing why Mikel Arteta was so determined to bring Ezri Konsa to Arsenal

Arsenal's fourth new signing of the summer has now been made official. On Friday, the Gunners unveiled Ezri Konsa, who arrives from Aston Villa for a reported fee of £51 million. The 28 year old had been a long-standing target throughout this window, but a deal appeared complicated to do, with Villa purportedly holding out for £70 million.

Thus, Arsenal even explored the possibility of signing Jarell Quansah, because it sounds similar enough, but Mikel Arteta has landed his man. Konsa provides much-needed depth to the right-hand side of Arsenal's back line. William Saliba will be sidelined "for an extended period" due to a back injury that he exacerbated during the World Cup.

Cristhian Mosquera is about as reliable a deputy as you're likely to find, so it'll be interesting to see if Konsa leaps above him the pecking order. Right-back though is the greater concern. Benjamin White is back now, looking sharp in Cardiff on Sunday, but is only just getting back up to full speed, following a "significant medial knee ligament injury" sustained against West Ham in May.

Jurriën Timber meantime has played only once since March due to a groin injury, and one cannot count on either him nor White to remain fit for an elongated period. Thus, the new recruit is a ready to go option who can fill both rolls. We will surely see Mosquera and Konsa deployed together at some point, albeit it remains to be seen which would be the right-back in this scenario.

The question though remains: why Konsa? Well, as noted by Opta's the Analyst, the England international boasted the best ground duel success rate of any player in the Premier League last season with 73.1%.

As we all know from Arsenal All or Nothing, Arteta values the ability to win duals above pretty much all else. So, let's take a deep dive into Konsa's dual-winning statistics.

Note: Statistics courtesy of SofaScore; only includes defenders to have played 20+ matches.

It will be no surprise to Arsenal fans to see Gabriel was the highest-rated Gunners in this metric last season, behind only new recruit Konsa and Virgil van Dijk. The latter has been the gold standard in terms of Premier League defenders for nigh on a decade, and continues to be so at Liverpool. Nevertheless, it was Konsa who sat above them all, so was this a one-off, or reflective of a trend?

Note: Statistics courtesy of SofaScore; only includes defenders to have played 20+ matches.

Well, it turns out that, within the parameters set, Konsa has finished top among defenders for % of Premier League ground duels won in four consecutive seasons. The last time he did not finish top of this ranking was 2021/22, but still sat fourth, behind Marc Guéhi, Ethan Pinnock and Gabriel.

For context, as to how long ago that is, the idea of Arsenal becoming Premier League champions back then felt frankly fanciful. The year before, Konsa ranked second, a miserly 0.24% behind John Stones, thereby consistently very high. Thus, Arteta will hope he can continue this streak now he has swapped the West Midlands for North London.

It remains to be seen if Konsa will be involved in Friday night's Premier League opener against Coventry City, highly unlikely to start that one with Mosquera and White fit. Arsenal's first away game of the season, ten days later, will see Konsa return to Villa Park, unlikely to recieve a warm welcome.

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