Major European seasons begin in earnest, and Polish players are featuring heavily
I suppose this headline is maybe a little trite, but it is worth saying that with a number of the higher-ranked leagues either having started their seasons this past weekend, either with traditional curtain-raising “super cup” ties or merely just starting their domestic league match-days, it’s a good headline to write even if we will be covering a breadth of topics today.
However, I definitely want to touch on some of the action from this past weekend in that regard, as well as the last fortnight’s pre-season and also one still swirling transfer rumour.
Let’s start with this past weekend then, and in particular Sunday night’s French Trophee des Champions, in which Lens beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0. New signing Maik Nawrocki featured from the start, and was part of an impressive defensive display, especially when you consider Lens had to play a large chunk of the 90 minutes a man down. Fellow countryman and debutant Michał Skóraś came off the bench in the second half, and had a presentable chance to make it 2-0 shortly before he was on the receiving end of violent conduct from Nuno Mendes.
It was a really pleasing display from both players, particularly Nawrocki. I have to admit I never saw much progression from him as a talent between leaving Legia Warszawa and now, but it’s clear he is a much better defender than I think almost anyone has given him credit for. To be able to thwart attackers of the quality PSG have is no small feat, and there were a couple of occasions where he made really impressive blocks or tackles that I wasn’t sure he would be able to. Skóraś when he was introduced was typically busy and I think he’ll do well in France, but for me the level of Nawrocki’s performance was a pleasant surprise.
Over in Spain and Bright Ede made his LaLiga debut with Deportivo La Coruna last night, as they drew 1-1 with Elche. I don’t know how you feel reading this, but I do feel like after last year when Ede was linked with Chelsea and Manchester United amongst others, the news this summer when it was decided that the reported €6million Motor Lublin received was sufficient for him to move to a newly promoted LaLiga side came as a surprise. Now I’m not saying that Ede moving to a big Premier League club last year would’ve been better for his development, but it is certainly more eye-catching. For what it’s worth I think this might well be the right move for him, he’ll certainly start most games for Depor and if last night is anything to go by, acquit himself well.
Moving back a little further and we can discuss a player having a great pre-season, Jan Leszczyński. Freshly purchased this summer by Borussia Mönchengladbach, he has received rave reviews for his performances up to this point by journalists and fans of his new club. Given the likelihood that Gladbach will be losing one of their other defenders, the experienced Nico Elvedi, signs are there that Leszczyński will quite probably be a starter at his new club already.
If we take a slight tangent into talking about the Polish national team for a moment here, how reassuring it is that in these past few paragraphs we’ve mentioned a new wave of young defenders who have a future at the top level. Nawrocki is the most experienced at 25 years old, but you would think he has a good chance of being included in at least one of Jan Urban’s squads this autumn if things continue as they are, and I think the same is eminently true of Ede and Leszczyński.
Broadening the tangent now, and in recent articles we’ve spoken about the qualifying campaigns of the various Polish clubs vying to play in the league phases of European competition this season. Whilst GKS Katowice are no longer in this conversation, Lech Poznań, Górnik Zabrze, Jagiellonia Białystok and Raków Częstochowa all remain. Of these clubs, Jagiellonia have perhaps impressed the most in their only tie so far, in which they managed to beat Rangers over two legs. A really impressive display in both games, and one from which a lot of pride should be taken. I think it’s likely we’ll see both Lech and Jagiellonia in the Europa League, but I fear that Monaco will be too strong for Górnik and Raków will find it tough against Hajduk Split in the Conference League play-off. If Poland have three clubs across the two competitions it will be a great success, but I think it’s more likely that we’ll see the Europa League duo.
Continuing the slight negativity and I think it’s worth addressing the fact that Jakub Kamiński is already struggling for playing time at new club Benfica. I still think moving to Portugal was a better choice than the Premier League, but you do have to start wondering when his next chance to prove himself to Marco Silva will arrive. In my opinion, I think Kamiński was brought in on the understanding that two of Benfica’s other young wingers, Andreas Schjelderup and Gianluca Prestianni, would be sold for sizeable fees this summer. With two weeks of the summer window left it is possible they may still leave, Schjelderup especially. If that doesn’t come to pass, then Kamiński will find himself as he does now, fourth or fifth choice on the wing. It’s a shame, but it would’ve been the same at Brighton had he ended up there instead as he well might have.
On the topic of transfers to English clubs, and the reports are that Burnley are very interested in acquiring Marcel Reguła. Any fee would be a new record sale for Zagłębie Lubin, but it is alleged that Reguła has not yet agreed to any potential deal with the Championship side.
If I may speak candidly here, I really hope Reguła chooses a different direction than England at this moment in his career. How many times in years gone by have we seen Polish players land in either the Championship or Premier League, and it has stalled or even caused regression in their careers? In terms of success stories in the past decade I can think of Jan Bednarek and maybe Jakub Moder, Jakub Kiwior at a push. Contrast that with Michał Karbownik, Kacper Kozłowski, Kamil Józwiak, and several others. I suppose you could argue that Przemysław Płacheta and Michał Helik have had perfectly respectable careers in England, but you wouldn’t necessarily argue they fulfilled the potential they showed when they were leaving Poland.
Reguła is still strongly linked with Köln, and although interest from Borussia Dortmund is seemingly waning, it is still a possible destination. Regardless, either of these environments would likely see him get more playing time than at Burnley, where he would probably be chained to the bench for large parts of the year.
As for another, slightly left-field transfer rumour, Krzysztof Piątek finds himself out of favour in Qatar and a return to Europe might be on the cards. Stories in Italy suggest he may yet again return to Serie A, this time as a Torino player. I think at this stage in his career, Piątek won’t have many choices of that calibre left to him, but despite what these reports suggest I think a return to Turkey or to the Ekstraklasa is far more likely for Piątek.
This brings me nicely onto Arkadiusz Milik, who has appeared in brief bursts for Juventus in this pre-season, including scoring a lovely goal against Palermo. It reminded you that for all the injuries, Milik is still one of Poland’s more technically gifted strikers of recent times. For me, were he fit, I would have no hesitation in seeing him return to the national team.
Which leads me onto that particular discussion, funnily enough. I’ve spoke already about the strength in depth that Poland would appear to now have in central defence, and whether or not Jan Urban is serious about deploying a back four in the future is anyone’s guess, but we should also address the striker situation. It’s interesting that there has been the observation in the early weeks of this Ekstraklasa season that actually, Karol Świderski is maybe not at the level of the national team any more. I think that whilst he does have a good performance in him, especially in a Poland shirt, other players will offer more.
Milik, for example. If fit, he would potentially link up nicely with Robert Lewandowski in games where Poland would have the majority of possession. I think the standout candidates right now to be strikers in the next Poland squad are those who were “tested” in June, Mateusz Żukowski and Karol Czubak. As for a wildcard from the Ekstraklasa, Łukasz Zjawiński has enjoyed a fruitful start at Legia. For me though, I would like to see Adrian Benedyczak. Versatile, quick and playing very regularly now in Turkey, I don’t see what some of the more established names offer that he couldn’t.
We are getting a little ahead of ourselves when it comes to discussing the national team, but these are the questions we have to start thinking about with just a month away from finding out who these call-ups will be. According to several talking heads in the Polish media, Urban is already planning a bit of a shake-up in these Nations League games, but to what level we won’t find out for another few weeks.
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