Premier League champions Arsenal face La Liga outfit Girona in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side’s only match of the summer so far was a 3-0 win over League One side MK Dons in a behind-closed-doors friendly at their training ground last week, but the Spaniard will want to see his side impress when they face Girona.
The Gunners will then have further friendlies against Real Betis, Borussia Dortmund and Como, before facing Manchester City in the Community Shield at the end of August.
In the meantime, it appears that Arsenal are interested in an England defender.
As per CaughtOffside, both Arsenal and rivals Liverpool are keeping tabs on Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa.
The report claims that the two sides are both interested in Konsa, who impressed for England at the World Cup in North America this summer.
Konsa, 28, joined the Villans from Brentford back in 2019 and has since made a total of 286 appearances for his current club across all competitions.
According to the report, the 28-year-old would be ‘interested’ in a move to The Emirates to join the reigning Premier League champions.
Arsenal are on the hunt for defensive reinforcements and Konsa has emerged high on their list of potential targets.
While Villa’s £60 million asking price for the centre-back is considered high by Arsenal, the report notes that the Gunners have not yet ruled themselves out of a move to sign the defender.
Konsa’s current contract at Villa Park is set to run until the end of the 2027/28 campaign, but it remains to be seen whether or not Villa can hold on to the player beyond the end of the current transfer window.
