Konsa move makes sense as Arteta looks to offset Saliba absence

Good morning, it’s new Premier League season eve.

Let’s start today with news that Arsenal have reached an agreement with Aston Villa over the transfer of Ezri Konsa. I’ve seen it reported the fee is in the region of £50m, and the 28 year old will have a medical today apparently.

First, I think a signing like this is absolutely necessary. We’re very light on the right-hand side of defence with William Saliba out in the medium to long term, and with a question mark over Jurrien Timber’s fitness still, despite the fact the noises seem to be quite positive about his progress. We just cannot just ask Ben White to play every minute of every game until he gets injured again, and as much as I rate Cristhian Mosquera, he can’t play every game either.

So, on that basis, Konsa makes sense. He’s been a Premier League regular with Aston Villa since the 2019-20 season, chalking up 231 league appearances, as well as European experience in that time as well across the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. He is primarily a centre-half, but can play at right-back too, something we know will tick a box for Mikel Arteta. His injury record is good too, there’s no big history to worry about there, and in terms of how he plays, you can see why he’s someone Arsenal have looked at to fill the gap left by Saliba.

Let me be very clear, I think Saliba is better, but then Saliba is better than pretty much everyone. However, he does play a particular role with us on the ball, his passing is secure and accurate, and when you look at the two side by side from last season in the league, there are parallels.

There’s also this from OptaJoe, who report: 92.5% – Ezri Konsa had the highest pass completion rate under high-intensity pressure of any player in the Premier League last season (min. 100 pass attempts).

Again, you can see why that would bring him on Arsenal’s radar in the absence of the French international. Defensively, well that’s a bit less clear. We play in a different style from Villa who have often used a treacherously high line which can leave their defenders exposed, but again you can see similarities in their stats from last season, with one obvious exception.

This may be down to how teams play against us versus how they play against Villa, or even game-states, but I think sometimes we underestimate how good Saliba is in the air, because it was – perhaps – the weakest part of his game in his early days in the first team. It’s something he’s improved a lot, so while the stats don’t tell you everything, and I realise these side by side comparisons of just one season can be a little simplistic, there is a big gap there in aerial duels contested. Konsa’s success rate is better, but if you’re looking at an area where he can be more proactive, that’s probably it.

As I’ve said often in relation to a transfer of this kind, it’s never going to be the kind of deal that gets everyone jumping up and down with excitement. We’ve signed an experienced defender to help us offset the absence of one of the best centre-halves in the world, and who can also take some of the burden off players who can’t be run into the ground like they have been before. It’s functional, and I do not mean that in any way pejoratively.

As for the fee, £50m does seem expensive to me for a player who is turning 29 in October (but until then remains 28 etc etc), but genuinely, I find it so hard these days to understand the prices clubs are paying for players. The market, at least when it comes to deals within the Premier League, has been skewed so much by the big deals done by Man City and Chelsea this summer, but then Arsenal too have played a part in that. We’ve paid £50m and £75m for a pair of 28 year olds from Villa and Newcastle. Signings, by the way, which make a lot of sense to me, and I don’t have any particular issue with Konsa or Guimaraes themselves, but if other clubs then start to use those prices as a guide for the late 20s players they want to sell, then that would be an understandable development.

Maybe there was a different way. Maybe we could have found a young right-back to bring in, used White and Timber as centre-halves when needed alongside Mosquera, and paid less than we did for Konsa, but that doesn’t feel very Arteta to me. I don’t think the internal solution was there. We shouldn’t play players out of position if we can help it, and we couldn’t put the weight of defending a title on a 16 year old. If you’re being generous about the motivations for the Villa man, beyond his ability to plug and play straight away, you could argue Arsenal are mindful of the Marli Salmon pathway, but I suspect that was a much less important consideration than having a player who can be ready to go more or less as soon as he arrives.

We needed this signing, but with the arrival of Konsa on top of Guimaraes, Tzolis and Piero Hincapie – whose fee was paid this summer – it has brought Arsenal’s outlay to north of £200m this summer, offset by the £42m or so we received for Leandro Trossard, Christian Norgaard and Jakub Kiwior whose move to Porto was made permanent earlier in the summer.

It’s why Richard Garlick wasn’t exactly steadfast about refusing offers for certain players when he spoke to the BBC, and if – as many of us do – you feel like an attacking addition in this window is necessary for us to be more potent next season, the idea that we could splash another £100m on that player without bringing in something significant doesn’t really make sense.

The season kicks off tomorrow, the window is open until September 1st, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was quite a bit of movement in that time. Some of which, I’m afraid, we might not like. But let’s see.

For some extra reading this morning, Tim’s annual ‘It’s a big season for …’ column is out now. We’ll have a pre-season Arsecast for you a bit later on this morning, the big Arseblog season preview post later on too, and this afternoon a closer look ahead to tomorrow night in our preview podcast on Patreon.

So, lots to come, for now, have a good one.

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