Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Jan Bednarek on a season-long loan deal from Southampton on transfer deadline day.
Following Diego Carlos’ long-term injury blow and the decision to loan out Kortney Hause, Villa were short of options at centre-half and bringing in a reinforcement would undoubtedly have been a top priority for the club on Thursday.
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Villa successfully addressed the issue as confirmed in their statement announcing the signing of Bednarek, who will now spend the rest of the season with us on loan from the Saints.
It’s a solid addition given his physicality and defensive know-how, while the 26-year-old has over 100 Premier League appearances to his name and 42 caps for Poland as he has experience at a high level.
With that in mind, it’s a smart signing as a short-term solution with Carlos expected to return in the latter stages of the Premier League season, and the hope will be that Bednarek is able to push Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Calum Chambers for a place in Steven Gerrard’s starting line-up.
As seen in the image below, Bednarek will wear the No.20 shirt for Villa this season, while the Polish international was delighted to secure a move to join the club.
“I’m happy, excited and looking forward to a new adventure for me,” he told VillaTV. “It’s a great opportunity for me and another great step. It’s really important for me to move to a bigger club and to improve as a player, and Villa is the best place for me to do that.
“It’s a massive club in England. Coming from Poland, I wasn’t aware how big Villa is.
“I think the fans are amazing, the stadium’s amazing and also the training ground. I’m really happy to be joining this club.”
Coupled with the signing of Leander Dendoncker from Wolves on deadline day, Villa have now added more physical presence and strength to the side and both have arguably been lacking for too long.
Time will tell if there is a change in system as well as personnel from Gerrard in the coming weeks as he looks to end our current slump in form and to start climbing the table, but the arrivals of Bednarek and Dendoncker will certainly give the Villa boss something new to think about when making his team selections moving forward.
Jan Bednarek will wear the #️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ shirt for Aston Villa. 👊
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2022