Ezri Konsa has admitted that he doesn’t like hearing suggestions that Aston Villa were a one-man team with Jack Grealish.
Aston Villa have to make do without the 25-year-old this season after selling him to Manchester City in a £100 million deal.
Grealish has been arguably the Villans’ most influential player in recent years, playing a huge role in helping Dean Smith’s side win promotion from the Championship, before establishing them as a serious Premier League club again.
The England international scored six and set up another 12 in the Premier League for Aston Villa last season and although Konsa has admitted that he was a ‘massive player’, the defender, a £12 million addition in 2018, told The Express and Star that it ‘is not nice’ for people to suggest that the team is nothing without his old teammate.
He said: “It is not nice hearing people say you are a one-man team,” says Konsa. “Obviously, Jack was a massive player for us. Everyone knows that.
“He’s the best I have played with in my career, I think he deserves everything which has come his way and I hope he does really well. But I feel now we can prove people wrong. As a team we have loads of great players and everyone works their socks off. If that’s not being recognised, it is not a nice thing to see or hear.”
Pass the torch
Smith’s side kick off their Premier League season against Watford tomorrow.
It’s the start of the post-Grealish era but with the likes of Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Emiliano Buendia signed up to name a few, there’s now room for someone else to become a huge player for Aston Villa, a passing of the torch.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
