Southampton’s Jan Bednarek has explained why he turned down West Ham United to join Aston Villa in the summer.
Towards the end of the last window, the defender’s agent had an agreement in place with David Moyes’ side. This was before the player ended up moving to Villa Park on a loan deal until the end of this season.
Meczyki.pl journalist Tomasz Włodarczyk had a long chat the 26-year-old, where he revealed that Southampton had agreed a deal with both Aston Villa and West Ham for his transfer.
“It was a real deadline day, because the day before the transfer window closed my agents spoke to the owner of West Ham,” he said.
“I remember falling asleep at midnight and got a message from Tomek Magdziarz [agent]: ‘Everything is settled with West Ham. Tomorrow, you go there at 10:00’. I say, ‘Great’.
“A week before the transfer window closed, there was the topic of Aston Villa. I spoke to Steven Gerrard, and he called me and said they wanted me badly and would talk to Southampton. And they were just negotiating.
“I got up at 8:30 and got a message: ‘We still have to wait a while. They are waiting, they are negotiating with Southampton’. I say, ‘Okay, let them negotiate.’ No news at 10am, no news an hour later, and I went to Southampton because we had a light training two days before the game.
“I didn’t have my phone because we were on the pitch. I come back and suddenly five missed calls. I call back the chairman of Southampton and he said ‘Look, we’ve accepted both offers – Aston Villa and West Ham. It’s up to you where you go. We don’t care. Wherever you want to go, we’ll let you go’. I thought, ‘Great. Now what?’.”
Aston Villa sacked Steven Gerrard last month and appointed Unai Emery as his successor. The Poland international has explained a chat with the former Rangers manager convinced him to pick the Villans over West Ham.
“For me, both clubs are top, great brands. The day before the end of the window in a conversation with agents, brother, dad and Julia [Bednarek’s wife] I say, ‘Anywhere – either West Ham or Aston Villa – I’ll be super happy’. On the last day of the window, it turns out that I have to choose one of the two,” the centre-back explained.
“And the calls started. One million text messages – Julia, Tomek, Łukasz, brother, dad – everyone calls and asks where are you going and what are you doing. I got a message on WhatsApp: ‘Hi, this is Steven Gerrard. Call me please’. I call and he says: ‘Look, we really want you. I can tell you that you will play with us. We need you’.”
“A football legend calls you – not the club. Most people in the world know who Steven Gerrard is. You are called by this person, and they will never guarantee you 100%, but they give you a very good chance of playing. It builds you up and makes sure that you are needed in a given place. It was very honest.”
The Pole has also revealed a few of his Southampton teammates had convinced him to join Aston Villa instead of West Ham.
“I was sitting in the Southampton dressing room where James Ward-Prowse, Theo Walcott and Willy Caballero were there. Experienced players who have seen a bit of life. I brought up my transfer and they said Aston Villa was a great club. I had a very good relationship with them, I counted on their opinion,” Bednarek stressed.
“I spoke to agents and they said: Aston Villa. The wife said that London is great, but the most important thing is that I feel good, and in 10 years I will finish playing football and then we will live in the place of our choice. She showed support that wherever I am, she will be with me. That was important to me – no pressure in my head.”
Bednarek’s decision to pick Aston Villa over West Ham hasn’t paid off as he has managed only two appearances at Villa Park this season.
“It seems to me that the situation turned out a bit differently. The players played well and the coach will not change a player without a reason. I am convinced that the coach had sincere intentions and even now I am grateful to him that he brought me here, because it is a very good step for me,” he explained.
