West Ham United are closing in on a deal to bring Jan Bednarek to the London Stadium as the club’s first signing on transfer deadline day.
That’s according to Dharmesh Sheth, with the Sky Sports reporter revealing in a recent post on Twitter that David Moyes is now closing in on a deal to bring the Southampton centre-back to east London on a season-long loan, while Craig Dawson looks to be heading out of the club – with Wolves in advanced talks over a deal for the 32-year-old.
In his tweet, Sheth said: “Wolves in advanced talks to sign West Ham United defender Craig Dawson. West Ham close to agreeing a loan deal for Southampton defender Jan Bednarek.”
With Bednarek being a solid, dangerous and Premier League-proven centre-back, it is not difficult to understand why Moyes has identified the 26-year-old as a replacement for the outbound Dawson, as the Poland international very much appears to be the type of defender that the 59-year-old manager loves.
Indeed, over Bednarek’s 31 Premier League outings in 2021/22, the £25.5m-rated talent was in imperious form, helping Southampton keep seven clean sheets, in addition to making 2.3 interceptions, one tackle and 4.5 clearances and winning 4.5 duels – at a success rate of 62% – per game.
The £20k-per-week defender also impressed in an attacking capacity, bagging four goals and creating one big chance for his team-mates, as well as completing 38.1 passes – at a success rate of 82% – playing 2.8 long balls and taking 0.6 shots per game.
These metrics saw the 26-year-old average a very respectable SofaScore match rating of 6.94 – the same as Dawson earned – ranking him as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s third-best performer in the top flight of English football last season.
Losing the experience of Dawson will undoubtedly come as a blow to Moyes, but should the Scot manage to get a deal over the line for Bednarek in the 32-year-old’s place, it would very much appear as if the 59-year-old has replaced the former Watford man exceptionally well – and perhaps even secured a slight upgrade on the Englishman.