So, arguably the most important signing of the summer is nearly in the door… Ezri Konsa. The experienced England international will move to Arsenal for between £51m to cover for William Saliba, who will be out until late November.
The extra kick he gives us is that he can cover at right-back, a position currently occupied by the injured Ben White and the ‘will probably end up in surgery’ Jurrien Timber.
The signing excited me for the swift and impressive coverage he gives, though it does concern me that the Andrea Berta era seems to be very much focused on now-needs, which means 26- 30-year-olds are flooding the club at a worrying rate. You say, ‘eh, I don’t care about the future’ but let me tell you… When all of a sudden you’re looking at a whole group of players who are aging out at the same time, and the decline of our prospects is swift and brutal, you might not think that way. Just look at the Atleti squad Berta left. Not exactly loaded with spring chickens.
But… it is what it is. We have someone who was ranked above anyone else in the league for ground duels last season. He might not have the security that William Saliba boasts, but he’s sharper under pressure than Mosquera, and he should fit our system like a glove. The coach clearly doesn’t have time to develop players, and he wants to go, go, go in a season that demands he match last year’s fortunes at a minimum.
Konsa’s gradient baselines give you all the insight you need into what Arsenal looks for in a defender.
Great passing, fairly decent ball carrying for a center-back, brilliant at duels and 1 vs 1 defending.
This pizza graph shows you some of the details via Opta data.
This is how Konsa stacks to Saliba using percentile data from Opta. Again, you can see that he’s no match for Saliba, but he at least does a good impersonation in a team that doesn’t really protect its center-backs quite like the system Arteta operates. We conceded 29 to their 49.
This is probably a very good signing, I’m just struggling to come to terms with a transfer window that now looks like it’s net £200m and we haven’t signed a striker or a left winger that seriously affects the bar we’re trying to leap in tight games.
That said, the Spanish media is reporting that Gyokeres wants out at Arsenal, and his agent is trying to wangle a meeting with Deco to get his client a move out of the club. No idea if this is their way of trying to put pressure on the Alvarez move… or it’s just Spanish clubs realising brute strength from someone like Gyokeres has more chance in a less demanding league. I can’t see it, personally… but who am I to get in the way of transfer rumors I ABSOLUTELY LOVE AND WILL MANIFEST THROUGH BLACK MAGIC AND AN ARMY OF GYOK POSITIVE AI BOTS THAT WILL MANIPULATE BARCA FANS INTO DEMANDING THIS.
Too much? Maybe not enough.
Ok, that’s me done for the day. Hope you enjoyed that. More tomorrow. Please check out the latest predictions podcast for free. It’s me, Jacob, Johnny, against the Hive Mind of our awesome members. x
You just know that if we get rid of Gyoketes, he's gonna do an 'Emery' on us and knock is out of the CL or something nauseating like that...
Don't blame Gyok if he wants out. He comes in and helps us to deliver a first title in ages and we pay him back with more vitriol than we do for opposition players. Damn shame how a section of our fanbase have treated him including the you know who's on this blog.