Mikel Arteta coy over Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah links amid Arsenal injury woes

Mikel Arteta has remained coy over Arsenal’s pursuit of Ezri Konsa and Jarell Quansah but asserted his desire to “improve the squad” as he looks to plug gaps in his defence caused by injury.

The defending English champions raise the curtain on their season with the Community Shield on Sunday, taking on FA Cup winners Manchester City at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Arteta begins the campaign without two of his first-choice defenders, with Jurrien Timber working his way back from a knee issue, while William Saliba is lumbered with a back problem picked up at the World Cup that will sideline him for months.

Arsenal are therefore keen to bolster their defensive options and are exploring significant investment at centre-back, The Independentunderstands. Their interest in Aston Villa’s Konsa has been reignited over the past few days, while Bayer Leverkusen defender Quansah is also said to be a target - both of whom can play right-back and centre-back.

Ezri Konsa (left) and Jarell Quansah during England training at the World Cup(Getty)

Arteta refused to comment on individuals but responded to questions on the England international duo by reiterating Arsenal’s ambition.

"You know I am not going to talk about an individual but what I can obviously tell you is the ambition of the club,” he said. “It is big that we want to improve the squad, we want to evolve the squad, in order to achieve.

“We have detected some areas that they can be a strength in, that is what we are trying to do."

He also noted that Arsenal’s transfer activity may not be limited to incomings, opening the door to potential departures in the coming fortnight, with the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira all linked with moves away.

"It's a very exciting part of the season as well,” he said. “When a lot of things happen, it creates excitement, there is an opportunity as well to evolve.

Mikel Arteta wants to do as much as he can to ‘improve the squad’ in the coming fortnight(Getty)

“There is a good way to understand what every player is feeling and we are trying to do maximum to end up in the next 13-14 days in the best possible condition to compete for every possible competition.

"It is always the case, there is an opportunity to go both ways [players out and in], we have to see how the market responds and what as a club, we can do.”

Arteta also provided an update on the injuries to Timber and Saliba, indicating that the Dutchman was making good progress while the Frenchman is dealing with “a more long-term injury.”

"Jurrien [Timber] is progressing really well,” he said. “He is on the pitch, we are ramping up now, the volume and the load. I think he is in a good trajectory but there is still a few weeks to go.

Jurrien Timber is ‘progressing really well’ in his recovery(Getty)

On whether Timber will return before the September international break, Arteta added: "I don't know, we will have to see. He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so, hopefully. See how he progresses from there.

"It has been a long-term issues and right now we want to make sure every step we take is the right one. He feels right to do that, He is such an important player for us."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies