Ezri Konsa evolution shows how Aston Villa defensive demands have changed
Ezri Konsa has developed into one of the Premier League's best defenders for Aston Villa.
Joining the club on 11 July 2019 following their promotion to the Premier League, he has adapted to each new level the Villans have hit.
Following Unai Emery's 2022 arrival, this trend continued at an even faster pace, seeing Konsa become an England regular.
And seven years on from his arrival, Villa can look at the anniversary as a marker of just how far they have come in that period.
The Midlanders survived by the skin of their teeth that term, and are now set to start their fourth successive season of European football.
If anyone epitomises just how much the standards have raised at Villa Park, Konsa is that player.
Just how impressive is Ezri Konsa's Aston Villa development?
For years, Konsa has quietly gone about his business at an incredibly high level.
Signing from Brentford, he followed in the footsteps of former Bees boss Dean Smith, who took him to Griffin Park just a year before.
Under Smith, he would prove a Premier League level centre-back as the Villans spent the early years after their return fighting towards the lower end of the standings.
But, now, he is talismanic, and is one of the first names on the teamsheet.
In the Villa squad, only Morgan Rogers recorded more minutes than the 3,036 of Konsa in the 2025-26 season, with the only minutes missed being through unavailability.
With 2,003 successful passes, his accuracy level sat at 95.5 per cent - the highest of any player in the Premier League.
His importance is also backed up with the amount of touches, having registered 2,439 in the league, with Konsa consistently trusted as the man to lead from the back in possession.
Defensively, he made 108 recoveries, alongside 196 defensive contributions in total, keeping eight clean sheets to boast on top of this.
Lifting the Europa League and even finding themselves among the title picture for a short period, Villa had an impressive season, with Konsa at the heart of it.
Arriving at 21, he was tipped for a bright future, but what is remarkable, is the fact that he has spent this future at Villa Park.
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Since Emery's arrival in 2022, Villa have continued to shift through the gears as a club, and are now a side expected to be in and around the European race each year.
Remarkably, the current squad is largely the same as the one utilised by both Smith and Steven Gerrard.
Alongside Konsa, the likes of John McGinn, Matty Cash, Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez have just continued to grow and grow, adapting seamlessly to each level of domestic and continental football.
Konsa in particular has cracked it internationally, with England boss Thomas Tuchel adoring him.
He joined a club that were aiming to survive their first year back in the top flight, before they came desperately close to dropping back down a year later.
Now, Konsa sets the standards at the back in a side fresh off the back of winning the Europa League, who have even loftier ambitions.
The 28-year-old is one of England's finest, and his development at Villa Park is the biggest indicator as to just how much the standards have raised in recent years.