Ezri Konsa believes Arsenal are capable of challenging for every trophy this season as they prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. The centre-back, who joined from Aston Villa in the summer for £51m, has settled quickly and is eyeing a major test against Harry Kane and Bayern.
Konsa produced a last-minute block tackle on Liam Delap to help preserve Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. It was Arsenal’s 10th victory in 11 matches this season and another clean sheet. Arsenal had drawn 0-0 at Forest in each of the previous two seasons, and Konsa said: ‘We hadn’t won here in two seasons, the boss was going on about it. It’s something we wanted to change as players and these are the games you have to win. If you want to win titles, you have to come away to tough places like this and get three points.’
The 28-year-old is a boyhood Arsenal supporter who had a lot of Arsenal kits when he was younger. He is particularly close to Eberechi Eze, another Arsenal fan, and knows several teammates from England duty: Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White. Konsa credits those relationships with helping him settle in.
His adaptation has been needed because William Saliba is injured. After making his Arsenal debut as a substitute at Villa, Konsa has played every minute of the club’s Premier League and Champions League matches.
Against Bayern, Konsa will come up against England teammate Kane, who has scored 155 goals in 157 appearances for the German club since joining from Tottenham in 2023. Konsa has faced Kane seven times, six of them for Villa against Spurs. The seventh was in October 2024, when Villa beat Bayern 1-0 at Villa Park in the Champions League – Villa’s first home match in the competition for 41 years. Konsa has four wins and three losses against Kane’s teams, with Kane scoring twice against him, both from penalties. ‘I don’t really look much at those kind of stats but I am relishing the challenge,’ Konsa said.
The context is different this time. Villa were underdogs in that famous win, while Arsenal will kick off as Bayern’s equals and among the favourites to win the tournament, having lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s final. Konsa won the first trophy of his career with Villa in the Europa League final against Freiburg a week before that, and he says the Arsenal squad is determined to go one step further in Europe. ‘We want to win everything – the Champions League, the Prem. Whatever trophies are in front of us,’ he said. ‘When I came to Arsenal, I wanted to win. I was hungry to win. Last season I got my hands on the Europa League and this season I want more.’