Image via @WislaPlockSA on Twitter
Slightly surprising news from the 1 Liga, first reported by Maksymilian Dyśko and Tomasz Włodarczyk, that 17 year-old striker Oskar Tomczyk is moving to Wisła Płock on a permanent transfer.
Normally I don’t write too much about the goings on of the 1 Liga, but this story seems too interesting to me to just pass by. Tomczyk has been in Lech Poznań’s youth set-up and second team for a few years, but has largely grabbed everyone’s attention thanks to prolific performances for Poland’s U-17 and U-18 sides. Supposedly, a transfer to Real Sociedad was close to being completed.
Of course, a couple of months ago this changed quite rapidly thanks to the scandal at the U-17 World Cup, hosted by Indonesia. Tomczyk, along with several other players from the U-17 side, got drunk at a local bar on the eve of the tournament and were thus sent home. Poland went on to lose all three of their group games.
Now, two months on, Tomczyk has not ended up with a move to Spain’s top flight but instead returns to his home town of Płock. According to Dyśko and Włodarczyk, offers from Spain were still on the table for Tomczyk, but the much mooted Sociedad move apparently broke down shortly after his escapades prior to the U-17 World Cup. Likely, and sadly, this is rumoured to be directly related to the scandal.
I think it’s a very fine line when it comes to punishing young players for scandals like this. This one is perhaps for older readers, but if you think of an example like Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and several others going to Ayia Napa, getting very drunk and embarrassing themselves then this scandal with Tomczyk and the rest comes nowhere near. I am not at all suggesting that the four U-17 players should not have been punished, but a little perspective might be wise. For what it’s worth I don’t think this will destroy the young players’ careers, but it does cast a shadow over their immediate futures.
As for the actual transfer to Płock itself, what do I think? Actually, it’s probably a pretty smart move on Tomczyk’s part, despite the derision it is currently earning on social media. He moves back to his home town, which could be either a blessing or a curse depending on his attitude to the whole thing, but he will be immediately getting a higher level of regular first team football. Given what we’ve seen so far of Tomczyk, there’s every chance he fires Płock towards promotion.
We should remember this has not been confirmed yet, but according to the stories published by Dyśko and Włodarczyk, it will be finalised and announced this week. Płock currently sit in 7th, five points off top spot with a game in hand. Tomczyk will likely make his competitive debut when the 1 Liga returns next month, as Płock travel to Rzeszów to play Resovia.
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