Arsenal have reached an agreement worth in excess of £50m to bring Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa to north London, with the England international expected to complete his medical ahead of the transfer being finalised.
The Gunners restarted discussions with Villa during the past week, though their initial approaches were turned down. Arsenal then explored alternatives, including Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah, before returning to Konsa and finalising terms for the 28-year-old.
Konsa prepares for Emirates switch
Konsa arrived at Villa Park in July 2019 and has since featured 286 times for the club over seven campaigns. During the most recent season, he made 48 appearances across all competitions, finding the net twice and adding one assist.
The campaign concluded with Villa securing the Europa League trophy and a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, which guaranteed their participation in the Champions League for the 2026-27 season.
Konsa has not taken part in any of Villa’s pre-season fixtures so far. He was also missing from the 2-1 loss to Paris St-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup, as manager Unai Emery granted him a four-week break following the World Cup.
Villa face significant squad overhaul
Villa’s summer has already involved major changes despite their Europa League triumph and Champions League qualification. The need to satisfy UEFA and Premier League financial fair play rules led to the record sale of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for £117m.
Youri Tielemans, who scored alongside Rogers in the Europa League final victory over Freiburg in May, also left the club to join Manchester United. Additionally, Villa allowed left-back Lucas Digne to move to Paris St-Germain, bringing in Matteo Ruggeri from Atletico Madrid as his replacement.
Arsenal deal deepens Villa uncertainty
With just four days remaining before their league opener at Brighton, the future of Villa’s squad remains unclear. More important players could depart before the transfer deadline, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez also tipped to leave.
Captain John McGinn stated last week that Villa still maintained the same structures and principles that had driven their recent success. He also insisted the team had performed well despite their Super Cup defeat to PSG.
Emery now faces a demanding period ahead of the window closing. Having extracted maximum output from his squad over the past two seasons, the Villa boss must now deal with the prospect of a far larger squad rebuild than the club initially anticipated.
Konsa, meanwhile, is poised to end his seven-year stint at Villa, with the move to Arsenal awaiting only the completion of his medical checks.