Aston Villa target Chelsea's Tosin Adarabioyo to replace £51m Konsa after Arsenal move

Aston Villa have identified Chelsea centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo as their primary target to replace Ezri Konsa, who has completed a £51m move to Arsenal, according to reports from Sky Sports.

The deal would represent the latest in a series of transfers between Villa and Chelsea this summer. Villa have already confirmed the loan signing of Alejandro Garnacho from Stamford Bridge, while Morgan Rogers departed Villa Park for Chelsea in a club-record sale earlier in the window. Ian Maatsen, Jadon Sancho, and Axel Disasi have all previously made the journey up the M40 to work under Unai Emery.

Villa are not alone in their interest. The Sun reports that Benfica have also submitted an offer for the 27-year-old, with former Fulham manager Marco Silva — who worked with Tosin during his time at Craven Cottage — keen to reunite with the defender in Portugal.

Tosin joined Chelsea on a free transfer from Fulham in the summer of 2024, making him a near-pure profit sale for the west London club. He made 41 appearances in all competitions in his debut season at Stamford Bridge but found opportunities harder to come by last term, a situation likely to worsen following Chelsea’s acquisition of Maxence Lacroix in the same position. Transfermarkt values the former England under-21 international at €16m.

The defender began his career at Manchester City before a Deadline Day loan move to Fulham in 2020, which was later made permanent ahead of his cross-capital switch to Chelsea four years later.

Villa’s summer has been defined by significant outgoings. Alongside Konsa, the club have sold Rogers, Youri Tielemans, and Lucas Digne, with Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins also reported to be attracting interest. Despite the departures, FourFourTwo understands that Villa have generated a profit of more than £200m this summer — a figure that follows their Europa League triumph and confirmation of a place in this season’s Champions League.

Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has also claimed on social media that Villa have been tracking Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson for 12 months. Jackson previously worked with Emery at Villarreal, raising the prospect of a third Chelsea player arriving in Birmingham before the window closes.

Villa open their Premier League campaign at Brighton on Sunday.