Jan Bednarek

Jan Kacper Bednarek ( Polish pronunciation: ; born 12 April 1996) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Southampton and the Poland national team.

Lech Poznań
On 23 September 2013, at the age of 17 years old, Bednarek made his Ekstraklasa debut for Lech Poznań in a 0–2 away win against Piast Gliwice. The Polish under-21 international became an integral member of the squad, featuring 31 times and scoring once as Lech narrowly missed out on the 2016–17 Polish Cup to Arka Gdynia 2–1 after extra time.

Górnik Łęczna (loan)
He was loaned to Górnik Łęczna for the 2015–16 season, where he managed a total of 17 league appearances before returning to his parent club.

2017–18 season
On 1 July 2017, Bednarek joined Southampton on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of £5 million. On 23 August 2017, he made his debut for Southampton against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup which ended in a 2–0 defeat. Bednarek did not feature again until 8 January 2018 in a FA Cup match against Fulham which ended in a 1–0 victory before being substituted for Maya Yoshida in the second half. Bednarek played out of position at right-back during the game, but was able to help keep a clean sheet.

Virgil Van Dijk left in January, and Mauricio Pellegrino was replaced by Mark Hughes who switched to a back three in April. He made his Premier League debut on 14 April 2018 against Chelsea, and scored Southampton’s second goal in a 3–2 defeat. Bednarek ended the season with five league appearances and eight in all competitions.

2018–19 season
On 28 August 2018, Bednarek made his first appearance of the season in the EFL Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion which ended in a 1–0 victory. On 22 September 2018, he made his first Premier League appearance of the season against Liverpool which ended in a 3–0 defeat after replacing Oriol Romeu in the second half. On 3 December 2018, Mark Hughes was sacked by Southampton. Under Hughes, Bednarek only made two league appearances so far that season. The arrival of Ralph Hasenhüttl saw a change in fortune for Bednarek, who ended the season with 25 league appearances.

2019–20 season
On 10 August 2019, he made his first appearance of the season in the league in a 3–0 defeat against Burnley. On 25 October 2019, Bednarek featured in Southampton’s 0–9 defeat to Leicester City. On 28 January 2020, he scored his first and only goal of the season in a 3–2 defeat to Wolves. Following Southampton’s 1–0 defeat against Newcastle United on 7 March 2020, English football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Southampton and Bednarek would not play again until 19 June 2020 against Norwich City which ended in a 3–0 victory. He ended the season with 39 appearances in all competitions.

2020–21 season
On 12 September 2020, Bednarek made his first appearance of the season in the league in a 1–0 defeat to Crystal Palace. On 6 November 2020, he featured in Southampton's 2–0 win over Newcastle which saw the Saints go top of the English top flight for the first time since 1988. His only goal of the season came during a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United on 29 November 2020. On 3 December 2020, Bednarek signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract.

On 2 February 2021, Bednarek scored an own goal, conceded a penalty and was given a red card after a foul on Anthony Martial in his team's record-equalling 9–0 defeat to Manchester United after Mike Dean checked the pitchside monitor. Despite this, the red card was controversial and Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær believed that Bednarek should not have been sent off. The red card issued was subsequently rescinded following an appeal by the club. He ended the season with 41 appearances in all competitions.

2021–22 season
On 22 August 2021, he made his first appearance of the season in a 1–1 draw against Manchester United after replacing Theo Walcott at half time. Three days later, Bednarek made his first start of the season in an 8–0 victory in the EFL Cup against Newport County, which is Southampton’s biggest away win in their history. On 18 September 2021, after not starting the opening four games, he made his first league start of the season in a 0–0 draw with Manchester City. In that game, Southampton defender Jack Stephens had played every minute in all competitions up until he suffered a knee injury. Following the injury to Stephens, Bednarek returned to being a regular starter.

On 1 December 2021, he scored his first league goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Leicester City. On 26 December 2021, Bednarek scored his second goal in three games after he netted the winner in Southampton's 2–3 victory against West Ham. On 11 January 2022, he scored again in Southampton's 4–1 victory against Brentford. On 16 April 2022, Bednarek's final goal of the season came in a 1–0 victory against Arsenal, which took his total goals for the season to four and he ended the season with 34 appearances in all competitions.

2022–23 season: Loan to Aston Villa
On 6 August 2022, Bednarek made his first appearance of the season for Southampton in a 4–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. On 1 September 2022, Bednarek joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan. Bednarek made his debut for Aston Villa on 2 October 2022 in a 0–0 draw with Leeds United, replacing the injured Ludwig Augustinsson before half-time. The loan was ended early on 23 January 2023 as Bednarek was recalled to Southampton after making only four appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa. He made 23 appearances in all competitions throughout the season for Southampton, but the club were relegated to the EFL Championship.

2023–24 season
He made his first appearance of the season on 4 August 2023 in a 1–2 victory against Sheffield Wednesday. On 12 August 2023, Bednarek scored his first goal of the season in a 4–4 draw with Norwich City. Following his fifth yellow card of the campaign during a 0–1 victory against Millwall, he was suspended for one game.

International career
On 4 September 2017, Bednarek made his international debut for Poland in a 3–0 victory over Kazakhstan.

In May 2018, he was named in Poland's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 28 June 2018, he scored his first goal for Poland, the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Japan.

In May 2021, Bednarek was named in the Poland squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020. Following a 3–2 defeat to Sweden, Poland subsequently finished bottom of Group E.

In November 2022, he was named in the Poland squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

On 7 June 2024, Bednarek was selected by coach Michał Probierz for UEFA Euro 2024.

Personal life
His brother Filip is also a footballer, who currently plays as a goalkeeper for the Polish club Lech Poznań.

In November 2022, Bednarek opened up on mental health struggles whilst at Southampton which led to him leaving the club on loan to Aston Villa during the 2022–23 season.

International

 * Poland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Bednarek goal.

Honours
Lech Poznań
 * Ekstraklasa: 2014–15

Southampton
 * EFL Championship play-offs: 2024

Individual
 * Polish Newcomer of the Year: 2016