Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed the club are looking to sign another centre-back to replace Ezri Konsa, who has left to join Arsenal.
Emery revealed Villa are targeting defensive reinforcements but also believes young defender Modou Kéba Cissé can play a role after impressing during pre-season.
“We want one centre-back more to replace Konsa, but we have a young centre-back, Cissé, working with us in pre-season. He’s a young player with potential,” Emery said.
The Villa boss also paid tribute to Konsa and the other players who have helped establish the standards at the club during his tenure.
“I am delighted with everything we did together. Some players are leaving – Konsa is close to leaving, and I am happy for him,” Emery said.
“I am for other players when they are leaving. Why? Because when we arrived here, they were performing up and down, not a lot at a high level, competing for something like we did after it.
“They deserve it, because they are players who had a huge commitment and the necessary discipline to work hard and get it.
“I am so, so happy and delighted with how they did it.
“I learned a lot with those players: how we were setting our standard and they were always there; how we pushed teammates to be consistent, and when we are being successful, the consequences can happen like they happened this summer.
“They are leaving because they are thinking they must get another challenge in their career.”
Emery hopes Villa can repeat that development process with their new arrivals, including João Gomes, Johan Manzambi and Matteo Ruggeri.
“Now we have other players and we’re going to try and do the same way with them like we did with other players,” he said.
“This is the way we are trying to work. We are building the team again. The challenge we have is a huge challenge, like every year at the beginning of the season.”
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