Aston Villa likely to beat West Ham United to sign Southampton defender Jan Bednarek
Aston Villa are reportedly likely to sign Southampton defender Jan Bednarek ahead of fellow Premier League outfit West Ham.
According to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, the Hammers were also keen on rivalling the Villans to sign the 26-year-old centre-back.
However, it seems Steven Gerrard’s men are set to win the race with the Saints now looking to demand a half-decent fee for the Poland international.
Via Twitter, Crook wrote, “AVFC now looking most likely destination for Bednarek. #SaintsFC are looking for a half-decent fee though” as he quoted his tweet from August 20 which said, “AVFC not the only club with an eye on Bednarek. Believe #WHUFC also hold an interest along with an overseas side.”
Not needed
While this could be put as Villa beating West Ham to his services, he was quite frankly, not a priority at the London Stadium.
After Nayef Aguerd’s injury, the club looked at centre-back options and identified Thilo Kehrer as the man to replace him and they got him over the line.
Signing a third central defender this summer would’ve made absolutely no sense and it’s glad that they did not pursue his services.
They brought in Emerson as well so that’s another area of the pitch they’ve successfully managed to address as left-back was definitely a dicey situation.
Hopefully, Lucas Paqueta is the cherry on the cake in the final days of the window and it’s hard to rate the summer anything less than an eight.
For all their criticisms in the past, the West Ham board has managed to silence some of their doubters by backing David Moyes unconditionally.