Konsa relishing Kane duel as he bids to help Arsenal end Champions League hoodoo

Ezri Konsa is living out his boyhood dreams with Arsenal - and is “hungry” to help them win more trophies.

Gunners defender Konsa grew up as an Arsenal fan, wore the shirts as a kid and jumped at the chance to join close friends at the Emirates in the summer.

Konsa is already looking like one of the signings of the season after his £55m move from Aston Villa but he is also determined to help Mikel Arteta ’s men lift more silverware.

England centre half Konsa won the Europa League with Villa last season and is now eyeing the Champions League ahead of Wednesday’s trip to face Bayern Munich.

When asked whether he grew up as an Arsenal fan, Konsa said: “I’ve been asked this a lot! Yes, I was. I had a lot of Arsenal kits when I was younger. It’s been posted everywhere, so … To answer that question, yes I was.”

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You could see how much it meant to Konsa when he was filmed arriving at the Arsenal training ground after joining the club to be greeted by close pal Eberechi Eze.

Was it a dream come true? “Of course, man. You dream of playing for big clubs like this,” said Konsa.

“When you’re a kid, you see the likes of Arsenal, growing up, and the amount of quality players they’ve had throughout the years and to be here, and not only to be here but to be here with close friends makes it even more special.”

That has undoubtedly helped Konsa slot straight in to be surrounded by England team mates and his outstanding performance against Nottingham Forest on Sunday - typified by a brilliant late challenge on Liam Delap - has helped him fit in straight away.

Arsenal have kept four clean sheets in their first seven Premier League games and Konsa has formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel in the absence of injured William Saliba.

Konsa said: “As a centre-back, I look forward to playing against the best. In the Premier League, every striker’s got their own qualities and are really good.

“Liam Delap was good at times, held up the ball well and is a very physical striker. I relish those challenges, the last-ditch tackles, I’ve done it a few times before.

“Look, it’s a good tackle but sometimes you get caught out of position, and you have to recover and make that kind of tackle. In hindsight, I could be in a better position to avoid those sort of challenges but always nice when it pulls off.

“Everyone knows about Arsenal’s record last season and how good they are at keeping clean sheets. It’s something that I wanted to do, to continue. One of the reasons I joined the club was to carry on keeping clean sheets. We’re doing all right so far. So long may it continue.”

Arsenal won the title last season but lost the Champions League final in heartbreaking fashion to Paris Saint Germain in a penalty shootout. They face a major test against Harry Kane ’s Bayern on Wednesday.

Konsa is determined to back up his Europa League success with Villa by helping Arsenal go one better this season as well as lifting more trophies.

He added: “That’s the plan. When I came here, I wanted to win. I was hungry to win. Last season I got my hands on the Europa League and this season I want more.

“Bayern have got a great team. We know how tough it’s going to be, going away to the Allianz but we’ll be ready.

“Harry’s a striker who can drop deep, go into midfield, he can drag you around and can assist, he can score, he has all the qualities a top striker needs. We know it’s going to be a tough game.

“I played against him when he was at Bayern two seasons ago in the Champions League. We won. I don’t really look much at those kind of stats but I’m relishing the challenge.

"The boys went all the way last season, just couldn’t get it over the line, lost in a penalty shoot-out. As players, the standards we have, the goals we have… we want to win everything, we want to win the Champions League. The Prem.

“We want to win whatever trophies are in front of us. As players, that’s something we are going to strive towards and hopefully we can win a few titles this season.”