Aston Villa: "You have to believe" - Emile Heskey delivers £60m Ezri Konsa to Arsenal verdict

Aston Villa cannot afford to lose Ezri Konsa during the summer transfer window amid persistent links with Arsenal, Emile Heskey has exclusively told Sports Mole.

With William Saliba potentially out until the end of the calendar year due to a serious back injury, the Premier League champions are believed to have identified Konsa as an ideal replacement for the Frenchman.

Arsenal reportedly held fresh talks over a deal for the England international earlier this week, but they have been met with stiff resistance by Villa, who are holding firm on their £60m price tag.

The Gunners have only gone as high as £30m for a 28-year-old player who is in the final 24 months of his contract, believing that to be a fair price for a man who would be relegated to second choice when Saliba returns.

While Heskey can understand Konsa's likely motivation for wanting to join Arsenal, the ex-Villa striker has implored the Lions to keep the Gunners at bay, having already offloaded Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans this summer.

Emile Heskey urges Aston Villa to keep Arsenal-linked Ezri Konsa

© Iconsport / Andrew Yates / Sportimage

"As a player, you would probably want to go to the Champions League, but as a club, you have to keep players like that, especially if you harbour ambitions," Heskey said.

"You cannot be letting go of all your players. You look at Villa, every year two or three of the best players are leaving. You cannot just keep throwing your hat on a manager to keep pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

"That is what he is doing every year. But at some stage you have to believe that you are able to keep hold of some of your players."

Konsa is one of five recognised centre-backs in the Villa squad alongside Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres, Victor Lindelof and Modou Keba Cisse, the latter of whom was a summer arrival from LASK Linz.

The England international has scored 12 goals and banked four assists in 286 matches for Aston Villa, who forked out £11.4m to sign the defender from Brentford in the summer of 2019.

How Ezri Konsa compares to William Saliba amid Arsenal links

The 2025-26 Premier League matrix highlights Saliba's proficiency in duels compared to his Aston Villa colleague, and the Arsenal man is undoubtedly the higher rated of the duo in the eyes of fans and pundits.

However, Konsa still boasts a superior pass success rate of 95.5% to Saliba's 92.9%, although that could also imply that the Englishman attempts safer passes than the Premier League winner, who also makes more per game on average.

Saliba is also clear when it comes to aerial duels won, overall duels won and tackles per 90 minutes, although Konsa drew significantly more fouls - just over one every 90 minutes in the 2025-26 Premier League.

Nevertheless, Konsa's versatility and experience makes him the ideal fit for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, but unless the Gunners double their latest proposal, Heskey and Lions supporters will get their wish.

Emile Heskey was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of Premier League betting site BetWright.