Smith has history with the 26-year-old defender having first signed him for Brentford in 2018 and then for Aston Villa the following year.
Reflecting on his decision, the 52-year-old revealed what he saw in Konsa, making him an admirer of the defender.
According to Smith, Konsa had traits similar to those of Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath.
The work that needed to be done on him was to make him a really good defender, something on which both Smith and his assistant Terry put their focus.
“I likened him to Paul McGrath, who is a god at Aston Villa to the fans”, Smith told the BBC.
“When he broke into the team, I said he’s got traits that Paul McGrath had in terms of his reading of the game, how he makes the game look simple, how he makes defending look simple.
“McGrath got player of the year five years on the spin.
“Ezri is a long way from that at the moment, but he’s got so much potential because of the way he is.
“Our biggest thing we worked on with him was making him a really good defender.
“When he came to Villa myself and John Terry said we want to make him the best defender we can.
“He has become a very, very good defender.
“I’m not sure too many attackers would want to play against him.”
Konsa has justified Smith’s prediction by making it to the England national team squad for their upcoming European Championship qualifying matches against Malta and North Macedonia.
