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Manchester United are tracking Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa as the club considers a number of options to improve their defensive line.
Ekrem Konur (ESPN) reveals United are “monitoring the situation” of the 26-year-old but are joined in the hunt by Premier League rivals Chelsea.
💣💥#EXCL | 🏴 | Manchester United and Chelsea are monitoring the situation of Aston Villa’s 26-year-old English defender Ezri Konsa. 🔵#AVFC🔴#MUFC🔵#CFC pic.twitter.com/AA7mC7wlC7
— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) January 8, 2024
The defence has been something of an Achilles’ heel for Erik ten Hag this season.
Injuries have ruled out all four of his first-choice centre-backs – Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelöf, Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane – at varying points, forcing the Dutchman to field a partnership of Jonny Evans and Willy Kambwala for the recent trip to West Ham.
Similarly, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have both been unavailable for large parts of the season due to injury, with the club relying on a hastily agreed loan deal for Sergio Reguilon to provide cover. That loan has now been terminated and the Spaniard returned to Tottenham Hotspur.
As such, Diogo Dalot will be relied upon in the short term to cover the left-back position, as neither Shaw nor Malacia are fully fit at present. The Portuguese fullback has been a rare point of consistency for Ten Hag with United’s other right-back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, also suffering a long-term injury earlier in the year.
Konsa – who has impressed this season for Aston Villa – is capable of playing both at centre-back and right-back. He is a physically imposing defender, with good recovery speed and proficient technical ability.
Under Unai Emery, Villa play one of the highest defensive lines in the league, which often leaves their defenders in precarious positions on the pitch. Konsa’s pace makes him perfectly suited to this system, however; in a way which players like Maguire and Lindelof are not.
The 26-year-old has been selected by Emery for every Premier League game this season, having stepped up in the place of Tyrone Mings, would was ruled out for the year with an ACL injury.
Ten Hag is attempting to implement a high-press style at Old Trafford. He wants his team to dominate transitions, forcing as many turnovers as high up the pitch as possible, for United’s forwards to then quickly capitalise upon.
A high line – which pins the opposition in by beginning the counter-press in their own half – is crucial to this ambition.
As such, a defender who has thrived in one of the highest lines in the league would be a welcome addition. The fact he could also feature at right-back and has an excellent injury history would be further strengths not necessarily present in United’s squad at the moment.
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