Plenty of Premier League interest in Under-20 World Cup winning defender

Possibly three Premier League clubs including Everton had previously attempted to sign young defender Ezri Konsa Ngoyo during the summer transfer window, and now it’s looking like Charlton Athletic are expecting more improved bids for the player when January rolls around.

The Addicks have already proved to be a feeder club for Merseyside, with Joe Gomez going to Liverpool and the Blues signing Ademola Lookman earlier this year. Both clubs rate the central defender very highly and are expected to be in the thick of things when the transfer talk starts to heat up in the coming weeks. Arsenal were the third club linked at the time and are also expected to be back for the player.

Speaking at a fan event, manager Karl Robinson admitted that the club were expecting to have to sell the player soon.

“My gut feeling is that he [Konsa] will go in January.

“If I was him I’d be looking to go in January but we should look for a minimum of £5million. Maybe we could try for a loan back but the player has to want that.”

Robinson, credited for discovering players like Dele Alli, also acknowledged that Charlton had turned down multiple bids for the player over the summer.

The 20-year-old has made 16 appearances in multiple competitions for the Addicks this season, and Charlton sit in third place in League 1, in prime position for a late season charge for promotion. Though Konsa won a gold medal with the Under-20 World Cup squad over the summer, he only featured for a minute in one game as he made his England debut.

Konsa signed a contract extension in March of this year that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2019-20 season, but it looks like it’ll take more than £5m now to convince Charlton to part with the player.