Ezri Konsa to Liverpool
Verdict Delivered
This rumor DIED. It was dropped from the board after going quiet, last rated 2%.
| Move | Villa → Liverpool |
| Outcome | Never happened |
| Rated at the end | 2% |
| Resolved | August 21st |
Off. Konsa agreed a move to Arsenal on August 19th (medical booked for Thursday — see the Arsenal row); Liverpool's interest, quiet since August 8th with no bid ever lodged, is moot. Liverpool are the second club circling Konsa, and their need has sharpened. Joe Gomez was hurt in the friendly against Sunderland and will miss the opener against Newcastle, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni will not be fit for the start of the season, and Virgil van Dijk was given time off after the World Cup, leaving Andoni Iraola to start the teenaged Ifeanyi Ndukwe and the 22-year-old Luke Chambers in a 4-2 defeat by Leeds. Iraola has said publicly that Liverpool are very thin at centre-back. The Guardian put Liverpool in the picture on August 5th, reporting that Arsenal could face competition from them and that Arsenal are unwilling to pay Villa's GBP 60m for a defender with less than two years left on his contract. Tom Collomosse of Mail Sport kept them in the frame on August 7th, reporting that Liverpool are monitoring the defender as they assess reinforcements at the back, and Matt Maher wrote in the Express & Star on August 8th that Liverpool are thought to be keeping tabs. No bid has been lodged, and Konsa's own stated preference is Arsenal.
Related
How the Story Moved
| Date | What changed | |
|---|---|---|
| August 2nd | Tracked | Rumor opened on the board at 11% (linked) — source: TEAMtalk, via GiveMeSport (Daniel Feliciano); CaughtOffside (Ben Jacobs' Daily Briefing). Liverpool are the second club circling Konsa, and the Liverpool link now has its own dated reporting rather than sitting inside the Arsenal story. GiveMeSport's Daniel Feliciano, relaying TEAMtalk, reported on July 27th that Andoni Iraola has asked the Anfield board to buy a centre-back and that Konsa has been identified as the target, with the England defender's ability to play at centre-back or right-back cited as part of the appeal. Liverpool lost Ibrahima Konate to Real Madrid on a free at the end of his contract and are left with the 35-year-old Virgil van Dijk, the injury-prone Joe Gomez, and the summer signing Jeremy Jacquet as their only senior central defenders; the report frames Konsa as a player who could come in alongside Van Dijk now and succeed him later. John Stones, another option Liverpool weighed, has since agreed a two-year deal at Inter Milan, which the report says makes Konsa the more viable route. CaughtOffside's Mark Brus, relaying Ben Jacobs' Daily Briefing, named Liverpool again on August 1st as potential suitors alongside Arsenal, and BirminghamLive repeated the link on August 2nd. Villa's asking price is the same roughly GBP 60m that Arsenal regard as too high, and Villa remain in control of the situation with no bid lodged and no club-to-club contact reported. The player's own stated preference in the August 1st reporting is Arsenal rather than Liverpool, so this is a monitoring-level thread on hit-and-miss sourcing. The former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer has argued publicly that the Anfield hierarchy should go to GBP 80m for Konsa, but that is pundit opinion rather than reporting and carries no weight on the stage. |
| August 6th | Moved | Likelihood rose from 11% to 13% (linked). Liverpool are the second club circling Konsa, and their need has sharpened. Joe Gomez was hurt in the friendly against Sunderland and will miss the opener against Newcastle, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni will not be fit for the start of the season, and Virgil van Dijk was given time off after the World Cup, leaving Andoni Iraola to start the teenaged Ifeanyi Ndukwe and the 22-year-old Luke Chambers in a 4-2 defeat by Leeds. Iraola has said publicly that Liverpool are very thin at centre-back. The Guardian put Liverpool in the picture on August 5th, reporting that Arsenal could face competition from them for Konsa, and that Arsenal are unwilling to pay Villa's £60m for a defender with less than two years left on his contract. Before that the Anfield strand rested on TEAMtalk's July 27th report that Iraola had asked the board for a centre-back, and a mention in Ben Jacobs' August 1st briefing. No bid has been lodged, and Konsa's own stated preference is Arsenal. |
| August 19th | Moved | Likelihood fell from 13% to 2% (off). Off. Konsa agreed a move to Arsenal on August 19th (medical booked for Thursday -- see the Arsenal row); Liverpool's interest, quiet since August 8th with no bid ever lodged, is moot. Liverpool are the second club circling Konsa, and their need has sharpened. Joe Gomez was hurt in the friendly against Sunderland and will miss the opener against Newcastle, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni will not be fit for the start of the season, and Virgil van Dijk was given time off after the World Cup, leaving Andoni Iraola to start the teenaged Ifeanyi Ndukwe and the 22-year-old Luke Chambers in a 4-2 defeat by Leeds. Iraola has said publicly that Liverpool are very thin at centre-back. The Guardian put Liverpool in the picture on August 5th, reporting that Arsenal could face competition from them and that Arsenal are unwilling to pay Villa's GBP 60m for a defender with less than two years left on his contract. Tom Collomosse of Mail Sport kept them in the frame on August 7th, reporting that Liverpool are monitoring the defender as they assess reinforcements at the back, and Matt Maher wrote in the Express & Star on August 8th that Liverpool are thought to be keeping tabs. No bid has been lodged, and Konsa's own stated preference is Arsenal. |
| August 21st | Verdict | Rumor died — dropped from the board at 2% |
Timeline since the rumor joined the board.