Sky Sports man reveals Aston Villa want Chelsea star as Ezri Konsa replacement

Sky Sports insider Lyall Thomas has revealed Aston Villa are interested in signing a Chelsea centre-back to replace Arsenal-bound Ezri Konsa.

Villa have been in danger of losing Konsa all summer. Indeed, Premier League champions Arsenal have held an interest for months, but refused to meet the Villans’ £60million demands.

While they’ve not done exactly that, they’ve got near, with a £51million agreement in place for the services of Konsa.

That leaves Villa searching for a new centre-back, with two over the age of 30 and a 21-year-old who’s only just signed among their options.

Per Sky Sports insider Thomas (16:00, Wednesday, August 19), Chelsea’s Tosin Adarabioyo is a player of interest to the Midlanders.

He’s said to be one of a few defenders Villa are looking at to replace Konsa.

The Blues are ready to listen to offers, and are aware of interest in Tosin from Marseille, Benfica and Sevilla.

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How Arsenal landed Konsa

Konsa has worked his way up to being one of the most consistent defenders in the Premier League during over 200 appearances there with Villa.

He was a central part of the England side which reached the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

Arsenal have wanted Konsa all summer, but massively lowballed Villa when they first came in with a bid, which was of just £30million.

It was reported consistently that Villa didn’t want to sell for far below £60million.

The deal that has been agreed is for an initial fee of £51million, but with add-ons on top of that which they appear to be happy with.

The Gunners are getting a player who can replace William Saliba during his time out injured, and who can also cover the right-back role, where Jurrien Timber is also sidelined at present.