Having arrived in 2017 as a 21 year-old, the defender penned a new deal yesterday to 2027.
“Probably when I first arrived here I would never expect to stay here for 10 years,” he told the Saints website. “Really happy that I was able to work hard enough to achieve 10 years at one club, hopefully.
“I think it’s a great moment for me, for my family, for everyone around me. With hard work, with belief and trying to always stay the same, I deserve to extend the contract.
“I think that’s also a great challenge and opportunity for me to keep growing. I think I’m in the right place with the right manager with the right fans.”
Bednarek says manager Russell Martin was a big influence on his decision.
He stated: “He made me feel special at the club. He made me feel really important, so I think what I can do is really work hard for him and pay back. That is the right way, the right path to keep learning as a team, as a group and also as an individual.
“What the manager has shown me is that I can still learn, I can still develop as a player and I think that’s right. At the age that I am right now, I can still develop, grow and learn, and that’s something I want to do because I can still have a lot of assets of the game that I can still develop.
“I think we created something special and I think that was the only one decision I could make – to extend the contract and stay here.”