Aston Villa will ‘find it hard’ to say no to certain Arsenal offer for Ezri Konsa despite recent report
Aston Villa will “find it hard to turn down” a certain offer from Arsenal for centre-back Ezri Konsa this summer, according to a report.
The Gunners are looking to find cover for William Saliba this summer. The star centre-back was injured at the World Cup and will miss a few months of the season.
Konsa has been one of the main names linked, having starred for Villa for years. He and Tottenham’s Cristian Romero have reportedly had contact from Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta.
For Romero, a deal would likely be too hard to come by, per reports, though it’s known how Arsenal would manage to land Konsa.
Football Insider‘s Pete O’Rourke reports that Villa will “find it hard to turn down” a suitable offer from the Premier League champions.
A £60million figure has been floated throughout the summer, and it’s stated Arsenal will have to come at least somewhere close to that.
It’s said a sale will only be beneficial to Villa if they receive maximum value for the defender, who has two years left on his contract and is an England regular.
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Villa want to protect Konsa
That tracks with recent reports, which state that with Villa not wanting to lose Konsa, they’d rather sell goalkeeper Emi Martinez if one man has to go.
They feel that one exit is likely this summer, and would rather the Argentine heads out so they can keep Konsa.
That would surely increase his value, as they’d not need to same level of funding as they do now, meaning they could ask for more.
In any case, up until now, it has been suggested that Arsenal don’t want to pay the £60million that Villa want from their centre-back.
Whether the suggestion that they could potentially pay near it and not that exact amount changes things remains to be seen.