Ian Wright is confident Arsenal have secured another influential signing after the Premier League champions beat Chelsea. The Gunners maintained the perfect start to their title defence with a 2-1 win over their London rivals on Sunday, coming from behind after Morgan Rogers' early volley thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.
Konsa's debut display
Two of Mikel Arteta's summer signings were involved at the Emirates Stadium, with Ezri Konsa helping to nullify Chelsea's front-three and Christos Tzolis impressing on the left-wing. £75m signing Bruno Guimaraes was named on the bench but was not required less than a week after picking up a knock in the win over Aston Villa.
Konsa, who arrived from Aston Villa in a deal worth £55m, was brought in after William Saliba returned from the World Cup with a significant injury. Wright believes the England international will prove to be a 'fantastic signing' for the champions.
'Mikel Arteta has always said he doesn't want a big drop-off [from his starting line-up and bench],' Wright said on Sky Sports. 'Now you would struggle not to have a drop-off when you consider what William Saliba has done for Arsenal but I think Ezri Konsa is a fantastic signing.'
Arteta and Konsa react
Konsa sparked wild cheers from the Arsenal faithful with a tackle on Chelsea's Rogers, his former Aston Villa teammate. Reacting to that moment, Arteta said in his post-match press conference: 'A very English tackle, the crowd reacted immediately – you guys love that more than a goal sometimes! It was great, obviously. What Ezri has done – he's played 11 minutes, he had five or six training sessions and the way he played man-to-man against an opponent like Joao Pedro – I thought he was phenomenal.'
Konsa said he was delighted to mark his first game at the Emirates as an Arsenal player with an important win. 'I love duels. As a defender, I think these are things you have to cherish. For me personally, I love a challenge. I love being in duels. I had a few today and I'm glad I came out on top.'
On facing Rogers, he added: '[Rogers] is a good friend of mine, but on the pitch, it's a different story. I saw the opportunity to go in and make the tackle, and it came off. I really enjoyed the occasion. My first London derby and I thought the fans were fantastic, superb. They stayed behind us throughout the whole game; without them, these games are impossible.'
Reflecting on the early goal, Konsa said: 'Conceding so early isn't great, and I know we take a lot of pride here in keeping clean sheets, but I thought the reaction was second to none, it was fantastic. It just goes to show the character and the mentality of this team.'
On his first weeks at Arsenal, he added: 'I felt right at home from day one. The boys have been top, the staff have been top. Like I said before in previous interviews, this style really suits me – I love the boss' way of playing. The amount of quality that we have and the amount of quality I have around me makes things easier. I think it's important you go into different games with confidence. We've started really well but it's still early days. We're going to take it game by game and day by day.'
