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Arsenal are poised to add further strength to their defensive department.

Mikel Arteta has outlined why Arsenal pushed ahead with a move for Ezri Konsa, with the defender’s switch from Aston Villa now close to being formally confirmed.

Arsenal have agreed a deal worth £51million plus add-ons for the 28-year-old, and he was at the club’s training ground on Thursday to complete his medical.

Konsa is not expected to feature against Coventry in Arsenal’s Premier League opener, but he could make his debut a week later against his former club at Villa Park.

There had already been an intention to strengthen in that position during the summer, but the long-term injury to William Saliba and Jurrien Timber’s ongoing absence increased the urgency of those plans.

Although Arteta stopped short of directly confirming that Konsa is joining the Gunners, he made it clear that the club were in need of reinforcements in defence.

“We are really active in the market, I mentioned that a few days ago,” Arteta said at his press conference on Thursday.

“The ambition is to improve the squad. Obviously we have a really specific issue in the back line, especially with the long-term injury with Willy and the fact that we miss one more defender.

“That’s clear so we are trying to reinforce that area. Whenever we’re ready, we’ll announce something.

“We are willing to improve that area and we’re going to try our best to achieve that.”

Ezri Konsa is putting the finishing touches to his move to Arsenal.

Before moving for Konsa, Arsenal were depending on Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera staying fit to avoid Arteta having to improvise in defence.

Konsa brings Premier League experience and the ability to play both at full-back and centre-back, further strengthening the Gunners’ already impressive defensive options.

Arteta has been determined to avoid a repeat of last season, when Arsenal were left short at right-back during the closing weeks of the campaign.

Mosquera was used mainly at full-back, while Arteta also occasionally relied on Declan Rice as an emergency solution.

“I would like to have the squad as big as possible because we know what we are fighting for, how long this is,” Arteta said.

“I will learn again from the past, especially last year, when we got in some difficulties, especially when we had two or three injuries in the same area of the pitch.

“So the deeper the squad that we have, the better.”