West Ham United are in talks to bring Jan Bednarek to the London Stadium this summer.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by The Sun, who claim that, with Craig Dawson attracting the interest of both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, David Moyes is believed to be in discussions with Southampton regarding a loan move for the 26-year-old.
The report goes on to state that Ralph Hasenhuttl would be open to sanctioning the departure of the centre-back prior to Thursday's transfer deadline, with Saints looking for either an option or obligation to buy clause to be included in any loan move for the Poland international - whom the South Coast side are thought to value around €15m (£13m).
Dream Dawson heir
While Dawson has been an incredibly important part of the West Ham side over the past two seasons - featuring in 56 of a possible 76 Premier League fixtures - should the defender go on to seal a move away from east London in the coming days, Bednarek would very much appear to be something of a dream heir to the 32-year-old.
Indeed, over Bednarek's 31 Premier League appearances last season, the £25.5m-rated centre-back highly impressed, helping his side keep seven clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.3 interceptions, one tackle, 4.5 clearances and winning 4.5 duels - at a success rate of 62% - per game.
The £20k-per-week talent also proved a threat going forwards, scoring four goals and creating one big chance for his teammates, in addition to completing 38.1 passes - at a success rate of 82% - playing 2.8 long balls and taking 0.6 shots per fixture.
These returns saw the "outstanding" 26-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as Saints' third-best player in the top flight of English football last time out.
In comparison, over Dawson's 34 league fixtures in 2021/22, the £2.7m-rated defender helped West Ham keep five clean sheets, as well as making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 4.1 clearances and winning 4.1 duels - at a success rate of 56% - per game.
Going forwards, the former England U21 international scored two goals, provided two assists and created two big chances for his teammates, in addition to completing an average of 30.4 passes - at a success rate of 81% - playing 3.0 long balls and taking 0.7 shots per fixture.
These metrics saw the £42.5k-per-week defender average a SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as West Ham's joint seventh-best player in the Premier League last time out.
As such, with Dawson's and Bednarek's respective returns from last season largely matching up in both a defensive and an attacking capacity, coupled with the fact that the Pole is six years the Englishman's junior, it would indeed appear as if the Southampton stopper would be something of a dream replacement for the former Watford man this summer.