FC Porto have officially announced the signing of Polish international defender Jan Bednarek, who has put pen to paper on a contract valid until 2029. The 29-year-old center-back, standing at 1.90 meters tall, brings a wealth of experience with 69 caps for Poland and 184 Premier League appearances.
CLUB OFFCICAL STATEMENT
Polish international defender made 184 Premier League appearances
Jan Bednarek, 29 years old and 1.90 meters tall, has 69 caps for the Polish national team and nearly two hundred appearances in the top flight of English football. From now on, he will reinforce FC Porto's defense, after signing a contract valid for the next four seasons, until 2029.
The small town of Słupca, in the heart of Poland, served as the birthplace for the Bednarek brothers in the 1990s. Jan, four years younger than Filip—Sparta Rotterdam's goalkeeper—began playing football close to home, at Sokół Kleczew, before moving to the outskirts of Poznan.
A season at MSP Szamotuły was enough to pique the interest of Lech Poznan, who recruited the powerful center-back when he was still a teenager. His first-team debut, which earned him a Polish Championship medal in 2014/15, was followed by a loan spell at Gornik Leczna and dozens of youth international caps.
In the summer of 2016, he returned to his starting home and had an excellent season in the Ekstraklasa – so good that he ended up moving to English football and becoming Lech's biggest transfer ever, surpassing Robert Lewandowski's to Borussia Dortmund.
Arriving at Southampton, his first experience abroad, he also made half a dozen appearances for the Saints' U-23s before making his Premier League debut (and scoring straight away) against champions Chelsea.
That game was followed by 183 more appearances in the British top flight, and in the last season, only three players managed to intercept more balls than Jan Bednarek – who equaled the 56 of Virgil van Dijk, his predecessor at Southampton and current Liverpool captain.
Porto's new number 5 arrives in the Invicta city after eight seasons in England, during which he also played in two editions of the World Cup (2018 and 2022), two editions of the European Championship (2020 and 2024) and four editions of the Nations League (2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024) with Poland.