League One club Charlton Athletic’s home ground, The Valley, has been a place frequently scourged by scouts from Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal so far this season. The reason behind the unusual scout attendance from the top Premier League clubs is 18-year old Charlton defender Ezri Konsa Ngoyo.
The defender joined his current club as an under 11 and progressed through its youth ranks to finally break into the first team this season. Manager Russel Slade has shown his trust to utilise him in his first team and he has not regretted his decision despite the young age of the Englishman.
Konsa has already made 9 appearances in total for the Addicks, 7 of them in the League One. After impressing with his displays, Slade now has a different kind of problem as he prepares for an absolute battle to keep hold of his young talent at the club amidst the high interests of Premier League giants.
Strengths
Konsa is a player who has great versatility. The teenager is comfortable playing as a centre back, right back and also in the central midfield as well. He is strong in his tackling and interceptions which allows him to perform his role at the back with efficiency for his club.
Another strength of the player is his passing ability. Despite his age, he looks to be a very composed bloke on the ball, his composure and passing thus allows him to perform as a central midfielder as well while his pace serves him well if he has to play as a fullback.
Weaknesses
The main weakness of the defender is his concentration. The lack of the alertness is something he would need to improve and it’s pretty common also for players of his age. The defender would need to work on keeping up his concentration throughout the full 90 minutes to develop into a player capable of playing on the biggest stage.
Verdict
Watching him play at the back for Charlton Athletic, one can’t help but feel that this player has the potential to develop into a top quality defender in the future. Having the strength, pace and ability, the 18-year old player is also very well equipped to handle the requirements better.
Having the advantage of being versatile by which he can also play at different positions will allow him adapt better in the future as well. There is already a huge interest from no less than 5 Premier League clubs for the teenager, with a potential transfer battle waiting to happen in January.
Defender Joe Gomez has been one example of a young player coming out of the youth ranks of Charlton to earn a move into a Premier League club in Liverpool last summer. Gomez has done decently at his new club and Konsa can follow the same path as Gomez and it’s needless to say that he has the potential to fare even better than Gomez in the future.
