Ezri Konsa settles in at Arsenal while Saliba's back keeps him out

Ezri Konsa has started six of Arsenal's first eight matches this season, and his manager says the way he has settled in is "unbelievable". Mikel Arteta, speaking about the 29-year-old, has not hidden his delight.

Konsa is a centre-back, a defender who plays in the heart of the back line. Arsenal signed him from Aston Villa for £55m in August. The timing was not random. Arsenal confirmed in July that William Saliba would miss an extended period with a long-term back problem, an injury that began during the World Cup.

Saliba, a France international, and Gabriel Magalhaes formed the Arsenal defence that conceded 27 league goals last season, when the club won the Premier League title. Losing one of them left a gap. Arsenal had seven senior defenders on their books when they signed Konsa, but they needed someone who could step straight into the first team.

He arrived hours before the season-opener against Coventry. His first appearance for the club came off the bench against Aston Villa, the side he had just left, after Cristhian Mosquera was injured. From there he quickly became a regular starter.

His passing has drawn attention too. Pass completion rate measures the share of passes that reach a teammate, and Konsa is at the top of the Premier League table this season with 96% from 324 passes. He also had the best rate in the league last season.

Arsenal's results have backed up the stability at the back. They have kept a clean sheet, meaning they did not concede a goal, in five of their eight games this season. No other Premier League club has kept more.

Konsa's record gives some context for that calm. He joined Aston Villa from Brentford in July 2019 and has made 286 appearances for them. In May he helped Villa win the Europa League, their first European trophy since 1982. He also started seven of England's eight games at the World Cup, which makes his move to Arsenal a step up in one sense only: he was already used to the biggest stages.

For Arsenal, the bigger question is when Saliba returns. Until then, Konsa has given Arteta a reliable option in the middle of the back line, and a steady one at that.