When Arsenal confirmed in July that William Saliba would miss an extended period with a long-term back problem, supporters feared the worst — eight games into the season the Frenchman still has not featured, yet Mikel Arteta's side have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League and sit level on points at the top, because £55m signing Ezri Konsa has stepped up in a way few expected.
Konsa scored his first goal for the club in Saturday's win over Everton, a game in which both Arsenal centre-backs found the net. As our report on that match noted, the Konsa and Gabriel pairing is already producing numbers that invite a bigger question: is this now the best central-defensive partnership in world football, not just in England?
From questioned signing to automatic starter
The questions in August were fair. Arsenal already had seven senior defenders, a settled Saliba-Gabriel pairing that conceded just 27 league goals last season, and Cristhian Mosquera in reserve — so why spend £55m on a 29-year-old from Aston Villa instead of a forward?
The answer has arrived quickly. Konsa joined just hours before the season opener against Coventry, made his debut off the bench against his former club after Mosquera was injured, and has started six league matches since. Arteta has described the way he has settled as "unbelievable", pointing to the chemistry and balance he has built with Gabriel despite having no pre-season at the club.
The underlying numbers support the manager. Konsa had the best pass-completion rate of any Premier League player last season and tops the chart again this term at 96 per cent from 324 passes, according to the BBC Sport analysis republished by the Tribune. Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in five of their eight league games — no team has kept more — and Cannon noted Saturday's win over Everton was their eighth clean sheet of the season in all competitions.
Praise from those who know the position
Former Arsenal defenders Steph Houghton and Martin Keown both praised Konsa on Match of the Day. Houghton said it was "really hard to look any further" than Konsa and Gabriel as the Premier League's best pairing right now, while Keown stressed the standard Konsa had walked into: Saliba and Gabriel were both on the Ballon d'Or list of the best defenders in world football, and Konsa has "not been overshadowed at all" alongside them.
Konsa's pedigree was never really in doubt. He made 286 appearances for Villa after joining from Brentford in July 2019, helped them win the Europa League in May — the club's first European trophy since 1982 — and started seven of England's eight games at the World Cup. His former Villa team-mate Morgan Rogers called him one of the best centre-backs in football and said he does not get the credit he deserves.
So what happens when Saliba returns?
That is the delicious problem Arteta now faces. Saliba still has no firm return date and is doing individual work on grass, and Arteta was clear this week that Arsenal are "desperate to have him back" because of what he offers. But Konsa has not played like a stand-in — he has played like a starter, and he offers Arteta an extra route into the team at right-back as well.
The immediate test is the biggest yet: a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool next week, where a clean sheet would underline just how far this partnership has come. With Declan Rice's new contract also moving towards its final stages, Arsenal's spine is being secured at exactly the moment their title defence needs it most.
Beyond the Final Whistle: The Saliba panic of July now looks like the moment Arsenal's squad depth became their title edge. Konsa was questioned as an expensive luxury — instead he has turned an injury crisis into a selection headache Arteta will happily accept, and when Saliba returns Arsenal will have three elite centre-backs for two places, not a defence held together by hope. That is what champions are built on. Should Konsa keep his place when Saliba is fit, or does the Frenchman walk straight back in?
