Image via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
Michał Karbownik has had a fairly torrid time since he joined Brighton from Legia Warszawa in 2020. He was limited to two cup appearances for Brighton in his first half season on the Sussex coast, against Leicester and Cardiff in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup respectively.
Karbownik was then loaned out to Greek champions Olympiacos for the 2021-22 season, and although Brighton didn’t want to include an option to buy with the loan, they ultimately agreed. Not that they should have worried about Olympiacos wanting to take up that option, as Karbownik had a difficult time in Greece, suffering injuries and generally being used by the B team more than the full side.
This summer, it was accepted by pretty much everyone that Karbownik’s Brighton career was dead in the water. Reports in Poland and England said as much, as well as confirming that Karbownik had two main suitors this summer; Lechia Gdańsk and Fortuna Düsseldorf.
As I said in an article back in August, the issue that has cost Karbownik in his career so far is his versatility. He is capable of playing the full-back or wing-back role on either side, despite seeing himself primarily as a central midfield player. Both Lechia and Fortuna were supposedly willing to offer him minutes in his preferred position, and he ultimately chose Fortuna in the 2. Bundesliga.
However, following Karbownik’s arrival, Fortuna signed other players for that central midfield position, and Karbownik was limited to minutes off the bench or not being in the squad at all.
In the last three matches however, Karbownik has been part of the starting eleven, albeit at left-back. This said, he has impressed in that position, even notching an assist in last weekend’s win against Armenia Bielefeld. One fan even got so carried away with his recent performances to dub Karbownik the “Polish Joao Cancelo” on Twitter.
Whilst Karbownik’s performances haven’t quite been at that level, he has played well. So well in fact that he has received plaudits in German football bi-weekly Kicker, and it has been reported in Poland and Germany that Fortuna manager Daniel Thioune has been so impressed by Karbownik that he will give him a chance in the midfield when the first choice left-back is available again.
Whilst Karbownik will probably never play for Brighton again, the Seagulls stand a good chance of getting all of the £3 million that they paid for him back from a sale next summer.
From a Polish perspective, it would be nice if Karbownik can keep up this good form in Düsseldorf. He was named in the 40-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award two years ago so he has the talent, and he is still only 21. Whilst Karbownik hasn’t played for Poland for a long time, Czesław Michniewicz is a big fan of the player, having converted him to a central midfielder when Michniewicz was coach of Legia.
It’s too soon to talk about Karbownik’s chances for football beyond this season, but if he can find a manager who believes in his abilities regardless of the position, he can definitely find his way back into the Polish national side.
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