Liverpool could sign £60m centre-back imminently; current squad “increasingly resigned” to his exit

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Ezri Konsa could be in line to complete a move to Liverpool or Arsenal this summer.Tom Collomosse reports for the Daily Mail that Aston Villa’s squad are thought to be “becoming increasingly resigned” to the prospect of the England international leaving.The Villans are understood to value the 28-year-old centre-back at the £60m mark.Liverpool and Arsenal are looking at Ezri KonsaLiverpool “monitoring” the situation around Konsa likely indicates that they’re waiting to get a better indication of what their budget looks like post-Bradley Barcola.“Left back Lucas Digne is expected to join PSG and centre back Ezri Konsa – another pillar of Emery’s best teams – is a target for Arsenal, with Liverpool also monitoring the situation.”Collomosse went on to add: “…it is thought the Villa squad are becoming increasingly resigned to Konsa’s departure.”Some reporting has indicated that the Reds have already completed a deal with PSG to the tune of £109.7m, which would certainly, judging by prior reporting, represent a significant chunk of our kitty this summer.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustHowever, given that the Ligue 1 champions were initially thought to be looking for £145m, we’d hope there’s still plenty of room left in the budget to fix the remaining gaps in the squad.In that sense, we can see why Liverpool would be looking at a positionally versatile option like Ezri Konsa at a relatively reasonable £60m (reasonable in this inflated market), who can cover centre-back and right-back.Liverpool’s defence is a mess mere weeks away from first gameIt’s frustrating, because you can clearly see the potential in this Liverpool backline, with both Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet two of Europe’s most promising young defensive talents.READ MORE: Not Barcola: Fabrizio Romano drops massively encouraging Liverpool transfer news on Friday morningMilos Kerkez, likewise, you’d expect to enjoy working once again with Andoni Iraola, the coach responsible for transforming him into the player Liverpool ultimately thought worthy last summer.Right-back has become a point of consternation for us since Trent Alexander-Arnold’s switch to Real Madrid.

Conor Bradley is, on his day, a wonderful footballer who provides value on and off the ball, but he’s unlikely to be back on the pitch much before the end of the year. As for Jeremie Frimpong, various reports have indicated that Liverpool aren’t quite sure where the Dutchman’s position is, which is incredibly troubling when he’s our only remaining senior right-back option still available.If Liverpool want to keep costs low, there are options like Ousmane Diomande and Djed Spence available who can cover both positions between them.But we rather suspect a more versatile option like Ezri Konsa is becoming increasingly appealing at this late stage in the summer transfer window.