The Lions moved early in the window to bolster their backline by roping in Diego Carlos from Sevilla.
But the Brazilian is set to be sidelined for an extended spell as he had to go under the knife on Thursday having picked up an injury in Aston Villa’s win against Everton at the weekend.
Aston Villa have identified Southampton man Bednarek as a potential replacement for Carlos and have made an approach for him.
The Saints are open to letting the Poland international go in the ongoing window as they want to cash in on him.
However, the Midlands club are not the only Premier League side looking at the possibility of snapping Bednarek up.
Aston Villa’s top flight rivals West Ham also have the Southampton star in their sights this summer, while he has also drawn admiring glances from abroad.
West Ham are dealing with injuries to several of their senior centre-backs and even though they have roped in Thilo Kehrer, boss David Moyes is still looking at potential signings.
The Hammers also saw Issa Diop leave the London Stadium and are seeing Bednarek as potential signing to strengthen their defensive department.
Southampton are likely to want a fee higher than the £4m they gave Lech Poznan for his services and it remains to be seen where he ends up playing this season.
