Town goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski has revealed he may finish his playing career in Ipswich and then continue to be based in Ipswich, which has been his home for the past four years.
Bialkowski, such a fans’ favourite that he has been voted the supporters’ Player of the Year in each of the last three seasons, was delighted to have his future resolved in the summer by signing deal that keeps him at Portman Road until 2021, with the club having an option to extend the deal by a further 12 months.
The 31-year-old Pole was the subject of a bid from Championship rivals Birmingham City and was also attracting interest from other clubs. He said: "I was so happy to get my future sorted out and know that I am going to be here at Ipswich for the next three or four years. I’m absolutely buzzing.
"I was getting phone calls but let’s not talk about that because it’s in the past. I have signed a new contract and that’s all that matters now.
"I always wanted to stay and when I got back from Poland I sat down with Marcus to discuss things. We managed to do that and that was it.”
Asked if he might end his playing career here he added: "I’ve said it hundreds of times that I’m very happy here and I wouldn’t have signed a new contract if I wasn’t happy.
"If that’s the case and I spend the rest of my playing career at Ipswich so be it. I’d be very happy about that.
"My wife and two children are also very happy and that’s the main thing. You need to think about your family, not only yourself, and the fact that they are so happy living here made my decision easy.
"We love it so much that even when I finish playing we could continue to live here.
"I have always been positive about Ipswich and when I signed the new contract I was over the moon. I am at a place where I want to be.”
New Town boss Paul Hurst shares Bialkowski’s delight that his future has been resolved and the continuity is extended by Hurst’s decision to keep Darren Smith in the role of goalkeeping coach after he was assistant to Malcolm Webster, who held the role before deciding to retire at the end of last season.
Bialkowski added: "Darren is pretty much the same as Mally. He’s a good coach and I am happy for him that he is still here at the club.
"Mally has retired and I am working with Darren but it’s pretty much the same as it was before. In terms of what I and the keepers are doing there hasn’t been much change but overall, as a team, it’s a big change.”
Asked if Hurst was demanding anything different of him the goalkeeper replied: "We are trying to start playing from the goalkicks, playing the ball out wide to the full-backs and going from there. Obviously, there will be times when we can do it and times when we can’t.
"But whenever possible I am trying to get the ball out quickly to one of my centre-backs or full-backs and play from there. The players need to understand that we want to play out quickly from the back — if we can — and it’s not a big deal for me.”
Hurst has signed nine players, while David McGoldrick, Adam Webster, Martyn Waghorn and Joe Garner have all moved on, giving the Town squad a brand new look as they search for their first win of the campaign that got under way earlier this month.
Bialkowski added: "The manager has a few new ideas about how he wants us to play. He has been here long enough for us to understand what he expects from us. You could see right from the start of the season how he wants us to play. He wants us to be attractive, playing good football, but we need to do the dirty stuff as well.
"It always takes time when you have a lot of changes. We have signed nine new players so it is going to take time to get everyone joined together and ensure we are all going in the same direction. I think it is coming together better with each game.
"If you saw the game on Saturday against Aston Villa, first of all it was a great point and we deserved it.
"For a long time we only had 10 men against a good side and although it was very difficult we showed our character and we managed to come away with a draw, which was very pleasing. The atmosphere was very good and much better than at other games.
"It’s very important, the atmosphere, because we need the supporters behind us. They want to see us playing well, playing good attacking football, and we showed them we can do that.
"Even in our first game of the season against Blackburn we played well and were unlucky not to get three points from the game.
"That’s Championship football for you and at the end of the day you need to do everything to get the three points. Sometimes it’s not about playing good football, it’s about getting all three points.”