Ezri Konsa: Aston Villa sign Brentford defender in £12m deal
Last updated on .From the section Aston Villa
Aston Villa have signed Brentford defender Ezri Konsa in a £12m deal.
The 21-year-old had been a key target for Villa boss Dean Smith, who managed the England Under-21 centre-back when he was in charge of the Bees.
Konsa played 47 times for Brentford after a £2.5m move from Charlton in 2018.
"He's a high-potential player who I believe can step up to the Premier League and I'm really looking forward to working with him again," said Smith.
Konsa will join up with the Villa squad on Thursday when they fly to the United States to continue their pre-season work.
Villa have prioritised strengthening their defence having also signed Tyrone Mings, 26, from Bournemouth while still exploring the possibility of re-signing Manchester United's Axel Tuanzebe, 21, on loan.
Tuanzebe helped Villa to promotion back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs.
Since promotion, Villa have signed Mings for £20m, defender Kortney Hause from Wolves, winger Anwar El Ghazi from Lille, left-back Matt Targett from Southampton, forward Wesley from Club Bruges and midfielder Jota from Birmingham.
Smith's side start their Premier League season away at Tottenham on 10 August.
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They have spent because they had to as 5 of their team were loanees. They've bought well and they'll do fine.
Best of luck AVFC. You will have tried to build.
Shame there are the saddos who have to decry anyone who are not in the top 6.
Good manager who gets the club.
Good support. Proper club.
Splashing the cash on mercenaries would be risky and come back to bite them if they did get relegated
So many newly promoted teams buy ‘millstones’ they can’t offload if it all goes wrong
Mings, Hause and El Ghazi all played for Villa last season. Hota and Konsa have both played for Smith before at Brentford. Only Targett, Moraes and Guilbert are truly newcomers.
The retention of John Terry as defensive coach is also a massive plus for Villa.
What's not to like about the way they run a club
The activity, the nature of the signings, all solid players who will not set the EPL alight but look exactly what you need to do to consolidate plus see who's made of what. the manager sees a need, sees a player who fills the need and signs the player even if the cost seems a bit large.
Realism writ large.
I look forward to seeing you back at Vic Road.
And its players like El Ghazi or Mings who showed last year they are clearly above Championship and can play at higher level .
Think one or two more to come in and we will have a very good squad.
Hopefully Leicester and Wolves can break the top 6,exiting times ahead for both clubs.
Villa aren't favourites for relegation in the eyes of the bookies.
I still wonder whether we will score enough goals, but only time will tell.
all signings are a gamble, as long as most of them work out we should (hopefully) be ok.
i'd settle for 17th this season.