View: Aston Villa won’t be in trouble with Southampton considering Jan Bednarek recall
Jan Bednarek could leave Aston Villa and return to Southampton during the January transfer window, with his parent club considering recalling him from his loan.
The Poland international left St Mary’s during the summer on deadline day after finding out he wouldn’t be part of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s plans, coming to Villa Park under Steven Gerrard following Diego Carlos’ serious injury.
Since joining though, a lot has happened at both clubs and Bednarek finds himself in a position where returning could be the best thing for him and both sides.
Gerrard and Hasenhuttl have both left their post as manager in the months that preceded his deadline day signing, being replaced by Unai Emery and Nathan Jones respectively.
Bednarek has only made three appearances for the Villans in all competitions so far, with just one start in the Premier League as both Gerrard and Emery preferred a partnership of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa in the middle.
Meanwhile without him Southampton are currently rock bottom of the Premier League table, having conceded 30 goals in their 16 games so far. That has led to Jones needing to evaluate his defence, and he sees Bednarek as a potential improvement.
So much so that according to The Athletic, he is considering cutting short the Poland international’s loan deal with Villa to bring him back into the fold.
But for Villa while he hasn’t played much, that could represent a problem when it comes to squad depth.
The whole reason he was brought in to begin with was a lack of options at centre back, with Carlos set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines. However his recovery could see him return relatively soon.
Calum Chambers is also capable of playing in central defence, and if it gets to a point where none of those are available then the academy exists to promote youth players too.
If Bednarek goes it would undoubtedly be the end of a pointless deal in the summer, and would surely leave no lasting effects for the second half of the season, so it isn’t something that fans should be too worried about if it happens.
In other Aston Villa news, Ludwig Augustinsson is surely done at Villa Park under Unai Emery