Arsenal have agreed a deal worth in the region of £51 million ($69.4m) for Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, sources have told ESPN.
The Gunners had a £30m ($40.8m) bid rejected earlier this summer with Villa valuing the England international at £60m ($81.7m.)
However, sources say Arsenal have had a significantly improved offer containing add-ons accepted as they aim to secure the defensive reinforcement manager Mikel Arteta feels the squad needs. The 28-year-old has long been keen on a move to Emirates Stadium and with personal terms on the brink of being finalised, a medical is expected to take place on Thursday.
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Arsenal wanted to add a defender who can play at right-back and centre-back to their squad with William Saliba sidelined for a prolonged period due to a back injury and Jurriën Timber still several weeks away as he aims to overcome a groin injury.
The Gunners had previously enquired about Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah but were quoted what the club considered an inflated asking price. That led them to return to Konsa and move much closer to Villa’s asking price. Konsa has two years remaining on his current deal at Villa Park and started every match in England’s World Cup run until their semifinal defeat to Argentina.
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Arsenal begin the defence of their Premier League title on Friday night against newly-promoted Coventry City.
Konsa is set to become their fifth signing of the summer having made Piero Hincapie’s loan move from Leverkusen permanent before adding Ilian Meslier, Christos Tsolis and Bruno Guimarães.
