{"id":743153,"date":"2026-08-19T17:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/743153\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T17:14:16","slug":"arsenal-agree-51m-deal-to-sign-ezri-konsa-from-aston-villa-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/743153\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal agree \u00a351m deal to sign Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal<\/a> have agreed a \u00a351 million (\u20ac59.5 million) deal to sign Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa. The Premier League<\/a> champions have been keen to find defensive cover for William Saliba and Jurri\u00ebn Timber, who are out with injuries. They have tracked Konsa throughout the summer and have made a breakthrough in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta hopes Konsa, whose Villa contract has two years to run, can make light of Saliba\u2019s absence in central defence. The time frame for the Frenchman\u2019s return is unclear but he is not expected to play before mid-October, having sustained a back injury in France\u2019s World Cup semi-final defeat against Spain. Konsa\u2019s appeal is bolstered by the fact he can also play at right-back, where Timber is battling to return from a groin injury which has affected him for months.<\/p>\n

Konsa starred for England on their run to the World Cup semi-finals. A fixture in Villa\u2019s successful team, the 28-year-old will encounter fierce competition at Arsenal, especially when Saliba is fit. Arteta rates Saliba\u2019s partnership with Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es as the best in England but he thinks the addition of a player of Konsa\u2019s calibre is a signal of Arsenal\u2019s desire to build on their title success of last season and dominate.<\/p>\n

The manager knows that his team played 63 matches in all competitions last season, which included runs to the Champions League and Carabao Cup finals, and he hopes to have a similar number this time out. As such, he believes he will be able to give Konsa the minutes he would expect, particularly when injuries are factored in. Arteta is also determined to have more high-quality options so that he can better rotate. At present, he has eight defenders, including Myles Lewis-Skelly, who can play in midfield.<\/p>\n

Konsa joined Villa from Brentford in 2019 and has been central to their rise up the Premier League table under Unai Emery. He has made 286 appearances for them and was a part of the team that won the Europa League last season. Arsenal kick off the new season at home to Coventry on Friday night.<\/p>\n

\"Al-HilalAl-Hilal are pursuing a move for Ollie Watkins. Photograph: Nigel French\/PA <\/p>\n

Villa are also braced for another bid from Al-Hilal for Ollie Watkins, after rejecting an offer worth almost \u00a340 million (\u20ac46.7 million) for the striker. Al-Hilal are pursuing a move for Villa\u2019s all-time Premier League goalscorer, who has reached double figures in the top flight in his six seasons at the club after joining from Brentford.<\/p>\n

If Villa sell Watkins, who has two years on his contract, they would seek to replace the 30-year-old England striker and Emery is a big admirer of Nicolas Jackson, but Chelsea\u2019s valuation of \u00a365 million (\u20ac75.8 million) is thought to be prohibitive to any deal. There is an acceptance at Villa that any marquee arrival before the close of the window would probably have to follow another major sale, owing to the Premier League\u2019s financial regulations.<\/p>\n

Emery has had to significantly reshape his squad this summer after the departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, who joined Chelsea, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, with Konsa now also on the move.<\/p>\n

Villa have signed Zion Suzuki as a replacement for Emiliano Mart\u00ednez, whose future remains unclear. Suzuki, a \u00a330 million (\u20ac35 million) buy from Parma, will be the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Villa have completed the \u00a317 million (\u20ac19.8 million) signing of Matteo Ruggeri from Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and remain in talks with Bayern Munich over a deal for Jo\u00e3o Palhinha and West Ham for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Villa have also signed Johan Manzambi from Freiburg for a club-record \u00a352 million (\u20ac60.6 million) and Jo\u00e3o Gomes from Wolves for \u00a338 million (\u20ac44.3 million). There could be further sales, with Villa hoping to find Mart\u00ednez a new club.<\/p>\n

Villa gave Watkins, together with Mart\u00ednez and Konsa, an extended four-week break after the World Cup. Emery said Watkins volunteered to play in last week\u2019s Super Cup against PSG, but the manager advised him to continue to rest.<\/p>\n

\"CarlosCarlos Baleba would be United\u2019s third midfielder recruit of the summer. Photograph: Mike Hewitt\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Manchester United<\/a> are confident of signing Brighton<\/a>\u2019s Carlos Baleba for less than \u00a375 million (\u20ac87.6 million), with the 22-year-old midfielder having agreed personal terms. United have made an initial offer of \u00a360 million (\u20ac70.1 million) plus \u00a35 million (\u20ac5.8 million) add-ons for Baleba, which is below Brighton\u2019s valuation.<\/p>\n

Baleba has been a target for United since last summer, when Brighton valued him at about \u00a3100 million (\u20ac116.8 million). The Cameroon international\u2019s price has dropped after his largely uneven performances last season.<\/p>\n

Baleba, who has an ankle injury, would be United\u2019s third midfielder recruit of the summer, after Youri Tielemans, who was signed for \u00a335 million (\u20ac40.9 million) from Aston Villa, and Andrey Santos, who arrived for \u00a348 million (\u20ac56 million) from Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Baleba, whose preference is to play as a No 6, would add dynamism and energy to United\u2019s engine room, and compete with Santos for a starting berth.<\/p>\n

United, whose opening Premier League fixture is at Hull on Saturday, remain in the market for a left-back. Newcastle\u2019s Lewis Hall and Arsenal\u2019s Myles Lewis-Skelly are high on the list of candidates. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal have agreed a \u00a351 million (\u20ac59.5 million) deal to sign Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa. The Premier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[220,2604,29199,49,349,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-743153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-arsenal","tag-aston-villa","tag-brighton-and-hove-albion","tag-headlines","tag-manchester-united","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}