Piotr Zielinski: Poland’s kind-hearted midfielder can shine on biggest stage

07-Jun-2021 23:01:04 | Guardian

The Napoli star may have left Poland 10 years ago to forge a career in Italy but has not forgotten his roots and the country is willing him to thrive this summer

This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2020 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 24 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.

Paulo Sousa, shortly after being appointed as the coach of Poland, indicated Robert Lewandowski as the most important element of his puzzle. Nothing surprising there. The Portuguese coach is excited to work with the best striker in the world. However, he also strongly appreciated another player in his new team – Piotr Zielinski. An exceptional player with some skills that only the very best possess, Sousa had plenty of praise for the Napoli midfielder, but he is a player from whom Polish fans demand more.

Zielinski signed a new contract with Napoli last summer, which will keep him at the Italian club until 2024. The negotiations were very long and demanding. His contract is over a hundred pages long. The club’s owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, wanted to keep one of his greatest treasures at all costs. The fact that he did the right thing is borne out by the stats of the player last season, which are the best of his career.