West Ham United on verge of agreeing deal to sign Southampton defender Jan Bednarek
West Ham are on the verge of beating Aston Villa in the race to sign Southampton centre-back Jan Bednarek, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.
Writing via The Athletic website on Wednesday night (31 August), Ornstein reported that the Irons are close to agreement to sign the 26-year-old Poland international.
It is understood that Aston Villa had been in talks over signing Bednarek on loan but it is understood that the Hammers are in “pole position” to complete a deal before the summer transfer window closes in just over 24 hours’ time.
Ornstein adds that a deal for Bednarek “is likely to depend on Craig Dawson leaving and his proposed departure has not yet been finalised”.
Late addition
We doubt that Bednarek will be a star of the show at the London Stadium this season.
The former Lech Poznan defender was out of the picture at Southampton and they’re a team with lower expectations than West Ham do.
He did start the first two games of the season for the Saints but was an unused substitute for the last three fixtures, which included wins over Leicester and Chelsea.
West Ham’s centre-back options, right now, are limited.
Thilo Kehrer and Kurt Zouma are the only fit and available options while Nayef Aguerd, Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna are injured.
If Bednarek goes, you’d expect someone to leave otherwise there’ll be a huge surplus of centre-backs in David Moyes’ squad once the injury issues subside.
It’s been a busy summer for West Ham United.
Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri, Alphonse Areola, Maxwel Cornet, Flynn Downes, Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta have all been signed already and it looks as though Bendarek could be new arrival number nine.