Ian Wright praises ‘fantastic’ Arsenal signing after Chelsea win

Ian Wright is confident Arsenal have secured yet another influential signing after the Premier League champions beat Chelsea.

Mikel Arteta’s side maintained the perfect start to their title defence with a 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

The Gunners fell behind to Morgan Rogers’ early volley but secured a comeback win thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.

Only joint-leaders Arsenal and Manchester City still boast a perfect record after three games while Chelsea stay fourth after their first defeat of the season.

Two of Arteta’s summer signings were involved at the Emirates Stadium, with Ezri Konsa helping to nullify Chelsea’s dazzling front-three and Christos Tzolis impressing on the left-wing.

£75m signing Bruno Guimaraes was named on Arsenal’s bench but was not required less than a week after he picked up a knock in the win over Aston Villa.

Arteta was keen to welcome England international Konsa to Arsenal after William Saliba returned from the World Cup with a significant injury.

Gunners legend Wright believes Konsa, who arrived from Aston Villa in a deal worth £55m, will prove to be a ‘fantastic signing’ for the Premier League champions.

‘Mikel Arteta has always said he doesn’t want a big drop-off [from his starting line-up and bench],’ Wright said on Sky Sports.

‘Now you would struggle not to have a drop-off when you consider what William Saliba has done for Arsenal but I think Ezri Konsa is a fantastic signing.

‘Look at his capabilities and experience and the fact he’s versatile as well. We needed someone like him because of Saliba’s injury.

‘It was a fantastic signing if you look at his age and experience.’

Konsa sparked wild cheers from the Arsenal faithful with a brilliant tackle on Chelsea summer signing and former Aston Villa teammate Rogers.

Reacting to that moment and Konsa’s performance as a whole, Arteta said in his post-match press conference: ‘A very English tackle, the crowd reacted immediately – you guys love that more than a goal sometimes!

‘It was great, obviously. What Ezri has done – he’s played 11 minutes, he had five or six training sessions and the way he played man-to-man against an opponent like Joao Pedro – I thought he was phenomenal.’

Meanwhile, Konsa said he was delighted to mark his first game at the Emirates Stadium as an Arsenal player with an important win over Chelsea.

‘I love duels,’ Konsa said. ‘As a defender, I think these are things you have to cherish.

‘For me personally, I love a challenge. I love being in duels. I had a few today and I’m glad I came out on top.

‘[Rogers] is a good friend of mine, but on the pitch, it’s a different story. I saw the opportunity to go in and make the tackle, and it came off.

‘I really enjoyed the occasion. My first London derby and I thought the fans were fantastic, superb. They stayed behind us throughout the whole game; without them, these games are impossible.

‘Conceding so early isn’t great, and I know we take a lot of pride here in keeping clean sheets, but I thought the reaction was second to none, it was fantastic. It just goes to show the character and the mentality of this team.’

Reflecting on his first few weeks at Arsenal, Konsa added: ‘I felt right at home from day one. The boys have been top, the staff have been top.

‘Like I said before in previous interviews, this style really suits me – I love the boss’ way of playing. The amount of quality that we have and the amount of quality I have around me makes things easier.

‘I think it’s important you go into different games with confidence. We’ve started really well but it’s still early days. We’re going to take it game by game and day by day.’

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