Jan Bednarek has dig at Southampton after revealing delight at joining ‘bigger club’ Aston Villa

Jan Bednarek sealed a dramatic deadline-day switch from Southampton to Aston Villa and then revealed how important it was for him to ‘move to a bigger club’.

The 26-year-old moved to St Mary’s from Lech Poznan in July 2017 and has gone on to feature 153 times for Saints. He also signed a new four-and-a-half year deal with the club in December 2020.

But after falling out of favour with Ralph Hasenhuttl, Bednarek has been allowed to leave on loan. And after his exit, the defender could not wait to have a little dig at his parent club.

He told Aston Villa‘s official website: “I’m happy, excited and looking forward to a new adventure for me.

“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.”

The Poland international added: “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.”

Bednarek has familiar faces at Villa

Bednarek will now team up with former Saints colleague Danny Ings, while he also plays international football with Matty Cash.

The centre-back added: “It [Villa Park] was a tough place to come whenever I played there with Southampton.

“It was always a great atmosphere and it’s a great stadium. So I’m looking forward to playing in front of our fans and winning games to make them happy.”

Bednarek had been linked with a move to West Ham on deadline day. However, Villa jumped in late to hijack the move.

Jan Bednarek will wear the #️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ shirt for Aston Villa. 👊

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2022

And they are clearly delighted with the signing, saying: “Aston Villa is pleased to announce the signing of Jan Bednarek on a season-long loan from Southampton. The defender has been at Saints since 2017, making over 150 appearances for the south-coast club.

“A Poland international, Bednarek represented his country at the 2018 World Cup and started his career in his homeland with Lech Poznan.”

He could now be in line to make his Villa debut against Manchester City on Saturday evening.