Aston Villa have made a loan offer for Southampton defender Jan Bednarek as Steven Gerrard looks to bring in a Diego Carlos replacement before the window shuts.

What’s the news?

According to Football Insider, Villa have submitted a loan offer for the Poland international as they look to bring in another centre-back before the summer window slams shut.

They claim that the Midlands side are looking at a loan deal for the season rather than committing to a permanent move.

With £26m signing Carlos expected to be out for the season, it looks as though Bednarek would be a like-for-like replacement.

It’s a no-brainer for Johan Lange

There's no doubt Gerrard landed a major coup when signing Carlos from Sevilla following an impressive season at Sevilla, where he won 62% of his total duels and featured in a defence which kept 13 La Liga clean sheets.

During the side's 2-1 win over Everton, the Brazilian was stretchered off and it was later revealed that he had ruptured his Achilles tendon, shattering the plans that Gerrard had for the player at the heart of the Villa defence.

It's now key for the manager to bring a replacement in, and Bednarek fits the bill. The 26-year-old has plenty of Premier League experience - 133 outings in total - so therefore no adjusting to the league will be necessary and he would hopefully be able to hit the ground running.

Bednarek was one of Southampton’s better performers last season, averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.81, ranking him fifth in their squad and winning an impressive 2.9 aerials per match, the most in their squad by some way.

These stats would have ranked him fifth and joint-first in the Villa squad last season and it's clear Bednarek could slip into the heart of their defence with ease.

He even scored four goals in the league last term, with the Villa centre-backs scoring a collective total of five, so the 26-year-old can give Gerrard an unexpected goal threat, especially from set pieces.

The £20k-per-week defender would be an ideal Carlos replacement for the season and without any transfer fee involved, it appears to be extremely low risk. It really is a no-brainer for Sporting Director, Johan Lange, as he aims to give Gerrard as good a squad as possible.