Emile Heskey believes Ezri Konsa may be tempted by a move to Tottenham Hotspur but may be better off staying and fulfilling his vast potential at Aston Villa, speaking exclusively to HITC.
One of the Premier League’s most impressive centre-halves appears to be a man in demand – at both club and international level, no less.
According to the Express and Star, Konsa could be about to join Tyrone Mings and Jack Grealish in Gareth Southgate’s England squad after a fine season in front of the Holte End.
But the former Brentford stopper is also eligible to represent Angola and DR Congo, not to mention reigning European champions Porto.
The Athletic, meanwhile, believe that Konsa will have a difficult decision to make when the transfer window opens too.
Liverpool and Tottenham are keeping close tabs on the London-born 23-year-old. Spurs, interestingly, showed an interest in 2019 and, with Toby Alderweireld, Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Eric Dier all committing vital individual errors recently, now feels like the ideal time to renew their interest in a long-term target.
“When you have a club like Tottenham coming in for you, you’ve got to look at it,” says Heskey, the former Aston Villa and Liverpool striker. “Is he ready? You’ll only know when you put yourself in that position.
“He’s done fantastic – he’s actually scored a few goals as well – and he’s forming a partnership (with Tyrone Mings).”
Heskey does point out, however, that swapping Villa for Spurs may not be the ‘step up’ it looks on paper.
As it stands, Villa are ahead of Jose Mourinho’s struggling side in the Premier League table and within touching distance of Liverpool.
“The only thing I would say is that Villa look like a team on the up. From where they were to where they are and where they’re going, Dean Smith has done a fantastic job,” the 56-time England international adds.
“Tottenham have got some wonderful players who are not playing as a team – it’s very, very individual. If you’re looking on paper, they should be in he tp four but paper doesn’t mean anything.
“They’re in a bit of a rut at this time.”
In an era where defenders are often accused of caring more about starting attacks than stopping them, Konsa’s ‘no-nonsense’ approach feels rather refreshing.
“He’s been very mature in the way that he’s defended and that’s probably down to Dean Smith telling them their first job is defending and doing it right,” says Heskey.
“Everyone wants to look pretty, play out from the back and break the lines but your first job is defending. Everyone loves a no-nonsense defender.”
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