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West Ham United block exit of Craig Dawson after deadline day Jan Bednarek signing fails
West Ham have blocked Craig Dawson’s move to Wolves after they failed with the late signing of Southampton’s Jan Bednarek, reports talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.
The Czech defender now has a deal in place to move to Aston Villa despite West Ham being “close to an agreement”, according to The Athletic.
Villa also had an interest in Dawson, who is believed to be keen on leaving the Irons to move closer to his family in the Midlands, but the machinations on the final day have left West Ham without a replacement and he looks set to stay.
The Athletic report on Thursday afternoon (1 September) says of the Bednarek move: “West Ham United were close to an agreement, but the 26-year-old has decided to join Villa, and is believed to be heading to undergo a medical.”
As a result of that development, talkSPORT reporter Crook wrote on his personal Twitter account: “Craig Dawson from WHUFC to Wolves is OFF.
“Hammers have pulled the plug after not signing Bednarek”.
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Double miss
It was bad news for the Hammers to miss out on the Saints’ 26-year-old, but given the strength in depth at the London Stadium when everyone is fit he may have seen more of an opportunity to play at Villa Park.
That in turn is bad news for Dawson, who has been an excellent performer for the Irons but has personal reasons for wanting to move on.
It was set to be an awkward one for David Moyes to navigate since the player has been crucial to him over the previous year with injuries striking in defence repeatedly.
He will no doubt not be happy to ruin Dawson’s hopes, but the 32-year-old is a key part of the rotation and the new season has kicked off much last the previous campaign in terms of absences at the back.
Once Nayef Aguerd is back from the surgery that has prevented him from playing a meaningful game following his summer signing, and Angelo Ogbonna is at full fitness after his own ACL operation last year, it is set to be crowded, but until then it would be a risk to let another player follow Issa Diop out of the club.
Thilo Kehrer had to be sourced at late notice to address the early crisis and another one could always be around the corner.
Dawson is a fan-favourite at the club so supporters will no doubt be pleased to see him remain, but if he doesn’t get much game time over the season and ends up leaving for free next summer it could be a disappointing end to his time at the club.