Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has penned a new contract with the club, and he is undoubtedly deserving of such a reward for his consistent form.
As per the club’s statement, the 25-year-old has put pen to paper on a new, long-term deal, thus extending his stay with us having arrived from Brentford in 2019.
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According to the Athletic, it’s a five-year contract, and so Villa have moved to secure the future of another pillar of our side as we solidify our foundation, and continue to build on it.
One thing that is certain though is that you’ll be hard pressed to find many, if any, Villa fans who don’t believe that Konsa isn’t deserving of a new deal, such has been the impressive nature of the impact he has made over the last four years.
As with any player, he has suffered dips in form. That’s part of developing and improving. However, his defensive qualities and technical ability have always ultimately shone through, and they perhaps haven’t shone as bright since Unai Emery arrived.
Konsa looks composed, confident and comfortable in his role in the heart of the Villa defence under the Spaniard, in a system and style of play that allows him to utilise and maximise his talent in both phases of the game.
Whether it’s his superb reading of the game, patience in making a vital challenge or intervention, growing leadership skills to organise, his recovery skills to keep things tight defensively as a unit, or to build our play out from the back with his accurate passing range and composure on the ball, he has been fundamental to our resurgence over the past year.
Further, he’s shown his versatility to play at right-back when needed too, tucking inside to form part of a back-three in possession which Emery likes, and so his importance in this side continues to grow. Based on his comments below, Konsa is also loving his role and football too.
“I’m really enjoying my football,” he told VillaTV. “I think this is the best time of my career, since I’ve been a Villa player.
“I feel like I’m really thriving under the boss, enjoying every minute, enjoying coming to training every single day and learning new things.
“I just want to continue my journey here with us all and keep enjoying my football.
“I think everyone can see since the boss has come in, how much we’ve changed as a team, how together we’ve become. I’ve said it previously, we’re like a small family and all we want to do is work hard for each other and show that on the pitch, and that’s what we did on Saturday.”
While managers have come and gone, defensive partners have chopped and changed and his position has been tweaked, Konsa has remained a fixture of the Villa defence, and he will continue to do so moving forward as he continues to develop and improve his game under Emery.
His new contract is a deserved reward for the role he has played in getting us to the position we’re currently in, but with his best years hopefully still ahead of him, the journey is far from over and he’ll hopefully prove to be a fundamental part of this side moving forward as we look to compete at the very top level.
