Ezri Konsa must step aside when Arsenal welcome back William Saliba

Time for celebration? There should be parties on the streets of London now that William Saliba has returned from injury, right?

Not so, actually. It is all because the news means Ezri Konsa will probably drop down to a supporting role from here on in; a necessary development, of course, though his contributions over the past few months should not be forgotten.

To sign him last summer represented the nuclear option for Arsenal. They surely could have tried to struggle along with their existing names – Saliba would ‘only’ miss two and a half months (throw in a mammoth international break, too) and Cristhian Mosquera is still good enough to make a difference in his absence.

But Mikel Arteta was not prepared to accept the drop-off. Even if just for a short while, to ‘make do’ might have seen the odd point fall by the wayside and that was unfathomable against the backdrop of a cut-throat Premier League landscape.

Ezri Konsa must drop to the bench but his Arsenal contributions will never be forgotten

Was he right? No one will ever know. Even at this early stage, though, with 24 points out of 27 and a measly five goals conceded, you just wonder how the Gunners’ title defence might have fared in that alternate universe.

Here is one thing we do know: Konsa has been utterly immense. He has only played for two months yet he still found time to form the “best centre-back pairing in the world” alongside Gabriel and win a place in Arsenal hearts.

It is a testament to his impact that fans have genuinely hardly felt Saliba’s absence, while no one is in a rush to see the Frenchman again until he is 100% fit because of the total trust that everyone has in Konsa to perform.

Once upon a time (say March-May 2023), fans might have literally counted down the days until Saliba could return.

But. There is always a ‘but’.

And this is it: Konsa must step aside. Perhaps not right away, but he is still a level below Saliba (most defenders are) and a best Arsenal XI must surely still have a fit Saliba in it. Further to that, everyone knew from the start that the ‘cover’ job was only ever a temporary position and the top dog is now back in contention.

For Arteta, there is great temptation to not fix what is not broken, but his ‘marginal-gain’ obsession will likely spell the end for Konsa before long. He will still get lots of game time over the course of a long campaign and, in the meantime, his heroic contributions during this most unenviable task will never be forgotten.

Arsenal are lucky to have him.

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