Oskar Pietuszewski joins Porto (and other transfer news)

Image via @FCPorto on Twitter

In what will almost certainly be the most hyped transfer of a Polish player this winter window, Oskar Pietuszewski was officially announced as a Porto player yesterday afternoon. 

A reported transfer fee of €8 million, potentially rising to €10 million, sets an Ekstraklasa record sale for Jagiellonia Białystok. 

Personally I think this is a great move in developing Pietuszewski’s career, as it’s obviously a definite step up but not one which would be too much for him, something which would likely have happened if some of the reported English interest had taken precedence. 

If all goes to plan, Porto would be the environment in which Pietuszewski further flourishes and they can make a tidy profit eventually selling to a team higher up the European food chain, as it were. 

What interests me is that, aside from the obvious current influence at Porto of Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior, why Porto specifically was chosen as the best destination for Pietuszewski? 

Some light on this has been helpfully shed by Mariusz Piekarski, Pietuszewski’s agent, who spoke to Tomasz Włodarczyk and Meczyki about the ins-and-outs of the transfer. He speaks of a “gigantic” level of interest but he and Pietuszewski were not thinking about England, Spain or Germany as they would’ve been “overwhelming”. Piekarski says Porto is the “ideal project” for Pietuszewski to be a part of with a “high chance of playing time”.

I have to say, it’s the playing time which does still give me a more uneasy feeling than I was hoping for around this transfer. Porto have a couple of quality young wingers, so it will be interesting to see exactly how and when Pietuszewski is utilised. What are the chances of him starting games, being a regular substitute, or will he simply be reserved for use in the cups?

Obviously, the fullness of time will reveal these things to us, but quite what Porto have told Pietuszewski and his agent in terms of expected time on the pitch must mean this is more sensible move than the one Piekarski speaks of almost developing in the direction of Atletico Madrid, who would allegedly have had him finish the season with Jagiellonia. 

Porto are enjoying a very good season, so I don’t expect Pietuszewski to immediately get a whole heap of playing time, but €8 million is not an insignificant investment even considering this is a move to one Portugal’s “big three”. Therefore you would imagine there is an appetite at all levels to see him take to the pitch sooner rather than later. 

As trailed in the headline of this article, there are a couple of other transfer stories developing neatly in Polish football. I was a little surprised to read a number of pieces detailing just how close Bartosz Slisz is to returning to European football from the MLS, and according to the aforementioned Tomasz Włodarczyk and Twitter handle @bakoskaut (the latter of whom actually first called this transfer) the destination is Danish club Brondby, for a fee over €3 million and with the final details of the move a mere formality. 

Slisz to Brondby is an intriguing move. Clearly the player wishes to return to Europe, and perhaps Brondby represents the best expected level of playing time. We’ve all read seemingly countless stories in the past of Slisz being linked with clubs in Serie A, but for many of these he would be a substitute or squad player. Brondby, you imagine, would be putting him in the starting line-up regularly, especially if they are willing to pay a relatively handsome sum to prise him away from Atlanta. 

Speaking of Brondby, they will also be taking one of the Ekstraklasa’s most interesting foreign players. Yes, again called by Włodarczyk and Meczyki, Górnik Zabrze’s versatile attacker Ousmane Sow is being courted by the Danish club, again for a fee in the region of €3 million. I think Sow has been one of the Ekstraklasa’s more eye-catching players this season, and it’s a shame to lose that from the league, but it’s good money for Górnik and a deserved step for a talented player. 

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