As the Premier League begins again, Polish participation is likely more fringe than ever

Images via @AVFCOfficial and @Arsenal on Twitter

By and large, it’s considered objective fact that the Premier League is the best and most competitive in the world. Whether this is technically true on either count is not really relevant, it is viewed in such a way that it is the apex of league football by players, supporters, journalists and managers.

Therefore as a person with a vested interest in the fortunes of Polish football, you’d be feeling relatively down about what the coming 38 games of the English top flight promises in terms of seeing Polish players on the pitch. Only two Polish internationals remain in the first-team plans of Premier League clubs, and even then one of those may be playing elsewhere by the end of August.

When Jakub Kiwior signed for Arsenal in January 2023, it would be fair to say he was a highly-rated and well-sought after target for many clubs wishing to strengthen their defence with a younger option. Fast forward two and a half years, and Kiwior is basically in the same position he was before, and it seems with each passing transfer window he slips down the pecking order further. 

Arsenal have bolstered their defensive options yet again this summer with the purchase of Cristhian Mosquera, which means that Kiwior is probably still the fourth choice centre-back for the club. Sure, he ended the last campaign strongly and will get plenty of minutes across cup competitions this season, but Premier League playing time looks just as elusive as it has in previous years.

Add to this the fact that Kiwior always seems one of the more expendable squad members of Mikel Arteta’s side, given the sheer numbers they possess in Kiwior’s preferred positions. Talk this summer of a return to the Italian top flight has now gone quiet, and it’s more likely that he will remain a back-up at his current club.

Given that Kiwior remains Poland’s finest defender on paper, it is disconcerting that he finds himself handed very few minutes at his club and yet is simultaneously not allowed to leave even on loan. I understand that clubs gunning for success such as Arsenal wish to have the deepest possible squads, but at some point Kiwior needs to be playing more matches than he has been over the course of his time in North London so far.

On the flip side we have Matty Cash, who injury problems aside features regularly for Aston Villa. Aside from these fitness problems he remains a player of fine quality, both for club and country. His exile under former Selekcjoner Michał Probierz was a bone of contention for many fans and pundits until the very end, when Cash was reintegrated and almost immediately showed his worth. 

This will likely continue over the course of the season at Aston Villa, who look in a weaker position than this time last year but still with a good chance of continuing on the upward trajectory they have been on with Unai Emery at the helm. Cash, when fit, is usually a part of this and Emery has shown flexibility when it comes to deploying him in more attacking positions as well as his more traditional full-back role.

Freshly having turned 28, Cash sits in football’s “middle-age” bracket: not young enough to be considered a top prospect, slightly past their prime but not old enough to be considered a veteran just yet. I have no doubts that Cash will continue to be a solid performer this coming campaign, which can only be a boon to Poland as they look to get their World Cup qualifying hopes back on track.

However I would like to address the problem I referenced in the headline of this article, namely that the visibility of Polish players in the Premier League is even less than it was last year. Łukasz Fabiański is currently without a club having played his final game for West Ham in May, and given his age if that continues he may call time on his playing days. Similarly Jan Bednarek, relegated last term with Southampton, has chosen to continue his career with Porto. He had a successful competitive debut on Monday night, playing just over an hour in a 3-0 victory over Vitoria Guimaraes.

This lack of Polish talent remaining in the Premier League could’ve been less of an issue if Marcin Bułka had chosen to join newly-promoted Sunderland instead of earning a very impressive salary in Saudi Arabia. I think the average person can be forgiven for thinking it would be a straightforward decision for Bułka to want to test himself in the Premier League instead of earning ludicrous sums in the Middle East, but as we’ve already seen with a number of players Polish or otherwise, the figures earned from even a few months in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or the UAE are vast and patently hard to turn down. 

It is certainly a worry for the Polish national team that looking across the landscape of the “best league in the world”, they are likely to only have one player earning close to 50% of their prospective minutes, but it’s not a uniquely Polish issue in fairness. The same argument can perhaps be made for other European countries close to Poland in the Fifa rankings such as Czechia, Greece and (to a lesser extent thanks to higher profile individuals) Hungary. 

Overall the rest of Europe’s top leagues should balance out the lack of Polish talent plying it’s trade in the Premier League, but it does feel that we’re coming back towards a period similar to the 2000s for Polish football, where the make-up of the national team is comprised of talented players who are back-ups at big clubs and regular starters for teams in second-divisions of in less-competitive environments. We’ve been spoiled in the last 15 years having a range of Polish players who start for European giants, so it should only be natural that there is a regression again.

Who’s to say however that a top Polish youngster does not blossom this season in the Ekstraklasa or somewhere else, and makes a January move to a Premier League club? There has been the ongoing saga of Bright Ede potentially joining Chelsea from Motor Lublin, and whilst he would likely be farmed out to Strasbourg (who also now have Maxi Oyedele on their books) it would represent a pathway to playing for one of England’s biggest clubs.

Whatever tactical plan new Selekcjoner Jan Urban has up his sleeve it will more than likely involve the pair of Kiwior and Cash, but for now we just have to hope that both players get enough minutes under their belts to be prepared for the international break next month, which will frankly be upon us faster than we think.

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