Nicola Zalewski’s transfer to Atalanta helpfully illustrates where Poland’s established players stand ahead of September’s internationals

Image via @Atalanta_BC on Twitter

Not even a couple of months ago, we were all pleased to see the somewhat inevitable news that Nicola Zalewski’s loan deal from Roma to Inter Milan had been made permanent. Now however, Zalewski has been shipped out to Atalanta for a reported €17million, over twice the €8million option that Inter supposedly settled just over six weeks ago.

It’s not like Zalewski played badly for Inter, he notched an assist on his debut, scored a very good goal against Torino and even made a Champions League final appearance off the bench.

However, under new manager Cristian Chivu there seems an appetite to rip up and start over at Inter, in no small part to the shellacking they received in the aforementioned Champions League final. From the outside at least, there does appear to be a real desire to either question or undo most of the squad that ex-boss Simone Inzaghi assembled over his last 12-24 months in charge of the Nerazurri. According to reports that Piotr Zieliński is also earmarked for a San Siro exit, Zalewski’s move perhaps doesn’t seem as much of a shock.

Still, it seemed that Atalanta’s interest and pictures of Zalewski’s announcement did develop exceptionally quickly, something that Selekcjoner Jan Urban confirmed during a sit-down with Meczyki. This sort of player movement between the top clubs is largely unique to Serie A and it has been part of the league’s culture for a long time, but it is still no less of a surprise. 

As it is Zalewski will have had three clubs in a year, considering he started last season as a Roma player. Atalanta is a good move for him and you imagine he will get the amount of playing time that you would hope a now 23 year-old player to receive, especially considering his competition in his preferred positions are either winding down their careers or not as experienced as Zalewski.

Obviously this next part is well-established, but Urban has spoken several times this summer about wanting players who play for the Polish national team to be regulars for their clubs, not just bit-part players. He has bemoaned the fact that the fitness of his two most senior star players in Zieliński and Robert Lewandowski looks touch-and-go for September’s World Cup qualifiers, as well as the fact that other players important for Poland don’t get the required minutes at club level.

This brings us neatly onto the topic of Jakub Kiwior, who had a decent enough pre-season with Arsenal but was absent from their first Premier League match-day squad and all signs point towards FC Porto being the club most keen on securing his services. Porto have already signed Jan Bednarek this summer, and the prospect of having two Polish defenders playing at one of Portugal’s “big three” on a regular basis is not to be sniffed at in the slightest.

Again, Urban endorsed the move when speaking to Meczyki, suggesting that Kiwior would do well to take the option of regular minutes, even if it means sacrificing what has been a fruitful spell at Arsenal. I would be inclined to agree, as sadly after nearly three years in North London Kiwior is impressive when he plays, it just isn’t often enough.

Looking lastly at another transfer which seems extremely likely to happen in the coming days, at least if we believe reports in Italy and (again) Urban’s comments to Meczyki, Mallorca are on the verge of signing Kacper Urbański.

So impressive was Urbański in his first proper spell in senior football with Bologna and then at Euro 2024 with Poland, we were expecting big things last season from a young talent now experienced at the highest level. Sadly, Urbański ended up being more out of the Bologna squad than in it, had a pretty horrendous loan in a pretty horrendous Monza team, and ended up right back where he started essentially.

La Liga has rightly earned a reputation for a technically proficient style of football, and that is a quality that Urbański has above all else. He hasn’t had much opportunity to show it over the course of the past year, but if he gets that regular playing time in an environment like Mallorca, he will surely regain his place as one of the national team’s more exciting young players. 

I think it’s very noticeable that in Zalewski, Kiwior and Urbański you have three relatively young Polish talents all having to take a slight step backwards to earn regular minutes, and you do have to draw the conclusion that the Polish national side may be going through a real phase of redefining itself. The simple truth is it isn’t the 2010s anymore, and whilst many of the clubs that Poland’s regulars play for are reputable, it’s not the same as having a younger Lewandowski or a regular European champion in someone like Grzegorz Krychowiak.

We’ve had to slightly dial back what to expect since the heady days of 2016, Adam Nawałka and all that, but this doesn’t mean that Polish football is regressing at some sort of alarming rate. The domestic league is good, the national team still has really decent players and whilst this isn’t the same golden generation as a decade or so ago, with the right combination of manager and players there can be both good football and strong results.

For all the problems Michał Probierz was guilty of not addressing (or in some cases causing) in his last eight or nine months in charge of Poland, that stretch from the Euro play-offs to the end of the tournament itself proved that with the correct application and personnel Poland can still compete with stronger teams.

Surely this is a sentiment that needs to be expressed given the fact that the Netherlands are one of Poland’s next opponents, a real baptism of fire for Urban and this is probably one of several reasons why he wants his players match sharp heading into the international break. No wonder therefore that he has endorsed the potential changes of club for Kiwior and Urbański, and given Zalewski’s move his blessing as well. 

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