Is Arsenal’s Ezri Konsa Signing a Game-Changer or Just a Risky Gamble?

The days of Liverpool having no real backup to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah or Fabinho are gone. Manchester City lost Sergio Aguero and cosplayed with false nines for a bit. Pep Guardiola reportedly told his City bosses last summer that he wanted a smaller squad.

It seems clearer than ever that stockpiling elite talent is simply the direction that top teams have to move in

When City and Liverpool accrued 195 points between them, the champions had John Stones, Vincent Kompany, Aymeric Laporte and Nicolas Otamendi as their collection of centre-backs – and they were favoured in that order. Kompany had overcome his injury issues and wasn’t a guaranteed starter in Pep Guardiola’s early tenure; Laporte was still adapting to the league, while Otamendi had his doubters pre-Pep. The runners-up, meanwhile, had Virgil van Dijk as their standout; Joel Matip partnered him 31 times in all competitions, Joe Gomez 25 and Dejan Lovren 18.

Arsenal’s centre-backs are a little more difficult to organise. They’ve gone from Gabriel being the main man and Saliba his protege – with a ‘Break glass for Rob Holding’ behind – to Gabriel and Saliba being equal partners. Konsa is not joining to be a backup.