Signed for £12m, now worth £22.5m: Villa struck gold with “excellent” £72k-p/w machine - opinion

Over the past few years, Aston Villa’s owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris have shown that they are not shy when it comes to spending money on new players to come in and strengthen the squad.

One player who was brought in and has gone from strength to strength on the pitch for the Villans, seeing his market value soar in the meantime, is Ezri Konsa.

Villa signed the defender back in 2019 from then-Championship side Brentford in a deal worth a reported £12m.

Since then, the centre-back – who is currently picking up £72k-per-week according to Salary Sport – has gone on to become a crucial figure for Villa on the pitch by making 91 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and two assists along the way.

With Matty Cash being the only outfield player at Villa to have played more minutes in the Premier League this season than Konsa, this shows just how critical he is for Steven Gerrard’s side and how highly he is rated by the manager.

Shortly before joining the Midlands club, Transfermarkt cited Konsa’s market value at £3.15m. It now stands at £22.5m, highlighting the significant rise it has enjoyed during this time at Villa Park.

Having been described as “excellent” on the pitch for Villa alongside fellow centre-back Tyrone Mings by Kevin Phillips, they certainly seem to have got their money’s worth with the 24-year-old, who has plenty of time ahead of him to further enhance his development and grow into an even better defender for the Villans for many years to come.

With Mings having racked up more interceptions, clearances and blocks per game than Konsa in the Premier League this season, the latter certainly has room to improve in his game, especially considering how he arguably let his team down in