Dan Bardell believes Aston Villa should look closely at Jarell Quansah as they prepare to replace Ezri Konsa, with the Bayer Leverkusen defender offering the age, physical profile and potential to become a long-term part of Unai Emery’s defence rather than another short-term solution.
Arsenal may have chosen Ezri Konsa, but Aston Villa should now be looking very closely at the defender who had emerged as their leading alternative.
Jarell Quansah was the other England centre-back under serious consideration at the Emirates, with Arsenal opening talks with Bayer Leverkusen before finally reaching an agreement with Villa for Konsa. Leverkusen were reportedly seeking at least €50million for the 23-year-old, who can play at centre-back or right-back and returned to Germany after representing England at the World Cup.
There will be an understandable reluctance among Villa supporters to see the club immediately spend most of the Konsa money on another defender, but this is a replacement Villa have to get right, and it also can't be a short term fix, in what is an ageing area of the squad.
Villa need to identify a player with the attributes to develop into that level of defender under Unai Emery, and Quansah has many of the qualities that would make him an obvious candidate.
He is younger, taller and physically imposing, but he is also comfortable receiving possession and progressing the ball from defence, which is essential in an Emery team. Villa do not only need their centre-backs to defend the penalty area, because they are heavily involved in how the side attracts pressure, creates overloads and plays through the opposition.
Quansah is not the finished article and there have been moments during his young career when his inexperience has shown, but that should not automatically count against him. Konsa was not the defender Arsenal have just paid £51million for when Villa signed him from Brentford, and the club benefited from giving a talented young player the platform, coaching and responsibility required to improve.
That is the market Villa should operate in, particularly when they are losing established players at their peak and cannot simply replace every departure with another footballer in the same age range.
Quansah’s age would give Villa the possibility of signing somebody who could become a major player for the club over several seasons, while still retaining considerable resale value. He also knows English football and has experience of operating within possession-based teams where defenders are expected to play high up the pitch.
His profile also addresses some of the qualities Villa would be losing with Konsa. He has the mobility to defend away from his own penalty area, can cover the right side of defence and offers greater height to a squad that has not always been dominant aerially.
The comparison should not be pushed too far, because Konsa’s greatest strength has always been the calmness of his defending and his ability to judge situations before they become emergencies, whereas Quansah would arrive as a player still learning how to produce that level of consistency every week.
That is where Emery becomes so important.
Villa have one of the best coaches in Europe when it comes to improving individual players within a detailed structure, and Quansah would be joining a manager capable of refining his positioning, decision-making and use of the ball. Pau Torres has developed defensively under Emery, Konsa became a full England international and Lamare Bogarde has been trusted in several different roles, so there is a clear record of defenders improving within this environment.
The financial side would still have to make sense, because Villa should not sell Konsa for £51million and then allow themselves to be pressured into paying an inflated price simply because every club knows they require a replacement.
Leverkusen are under no obvious obligation to sell, particularly after the expiry of Liverpool’s reported €70million buy-back option, but Arsenal’s decision to proceed with Konsa could remove one significant bidder from the conversation and potentially provide Villa with an opportunity.
There will be alternatives, with Tosin Adarabioyo and Fikayo Tomori already linked as possible targets, but both would represent a different type of decision. Tosin could offer Premier League experience and Tomori has played at a high level in Italy, although Quansah looks more like the long-term investment Villa have generally made successfully under Emery.
Losing Konsa is a major blow, but the worst response would be signing somebody merely to fill the space he has vacated. Villa need to use the money to begin another development cycle, bringing in a defender with the physical tools, technical ability and potential to grow alongside the team.
Arsenal believed Quansah was good enough to be considered alongside Konsa as they prepared to defend their Premier League title, which should tell Villa plenty about the level of talent involved.
They may have taken one of Villa’s most dependable players, but they could also have helped point Villa towards the man capable of eventually replacing him.
