Jan Bednarek has been looking back on his late breakthrough into the Southampton first-team near the end of the 2017/18 season.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the young defender reflected on his maiden campaign in English football as he helped Saints secure their Premier League status.
You can see that hard work pays off. You work hard for ten months and sometimes you think it’s useless, but then you realise it was really good to wait.
To be a little bit disappointed and sad, but then at the end to be happy that you worked hard and always believed, that feels good. It’s been really good for me to develop as a football player and to get used to this league. I’ve started to play and I’m happy I can be part of the team. It’s an amazing feeling. I waited for so long and it finally happened.
Bednarek was signed last summer for a fee of £5 million from Lech Poznan – a deal which went down in history as the highest sum paid for a player from the Polish top-flight.
After a slow start to life on the South Coast, Bednarek was called upon midway through April by Mark Hughes, with the Saints’ defensive options limited following Jack Stephens’ red card at Arsenal in the previous week.
Since then, Bednarek secured his place in the side and was a mainstay for Hughes until he came off with concussion in Saints’ penultimate game of the season at Swansea.
Of course, there were tough times when I didn’t get a chance and I was on the bench or out of the squad. I always worked hard, I was always ready and I believed that I would get my chance. That was all I could do – work hard at the training ground, do everything the best that I can and wait for my chance.
It has been a testing but rewarding campaign for Bednarek at St Mary’s Stadium and he’ll be desperate to be afforded the chance to shine for Poland at the World Cup this summer.
