Speaking in his press conference, Gareth Southgate has namedropped Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa as a player who is on his radar.
The England manager raised a few eyebrows with his provisional England squad on Tuesday as he named the likes of Ben Godfrey and Ben White as two centre-back options while neglecting a player like Konsa.
Villa fans weren’t best pleased with Konsa’s snub, but Southgate has assured fans that Konsa is on the Three Lions’ radar.
What did he say?
“Again, the private conversations I’ve had with players I won’t go into too much, but I think they’re both very good young defenders,” Southgate said.
“There are others we’ve also been looking at that we really like, Ezri Konsa has had a good season at Aston Villa, Fikayo has done well at Milan.”
Matter of time
Surely Konsa’s first England cap isn’t far off now.
Tyrone Mings continues to get called up to international duty, and it could be argued that Konsa has been even better than his teammate this season.
Southgate is clearly open to experimentation at the centre-back spot, and with Konsa being on his radar, you’d have to imagine that he’ll get the nod sooner rather than later.
Konsa could also play for Portugal if he chooses to change his allegiances, and Southgate has to be wary of the fact he could be losing out on a top talent if he doesn’t call the Villa man up soon.
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