Image via @paofc_ on Twitter
Yesterday, it was officially announced that Tymoteusz Puchacz had joined Greek side Panathinaikos on loan from Union Berlin until the end of season, with an option to buy.
First reported by Tomasz Włodarczyk about a week ago, in my opinion this was a move that makes a lot of sense for the 23 year-old left back. Despite being told by Union boss Urs Fischer that he would be needed for cup competitions, Puchacz was rarely used in the Europa League but he did score a goal in his sole DfB Pokal game for the side, in addition to making one hour-long league appearance.
Recent Polish imports to the Greek Super League have been varied in their effectiveness. Karol Świderski moved from Jagiellonia Białystok to PAOK in January 2019, and had several strong seasons before his move to the MLS with Charlotte. It was during his time in Greece that Świderski really started to establish himself in the Polish national team too, to the point where many fans would’ve preferred him to start over the more established bigger names up front like Arek Milik and Krzysztof Piątek.
Of course, Michał Karbownik’s time in Greece went the complete opposite direction, with his injury problems affecting his form to the point he turned out more for Olympiacos’ B team than the side proper. His chances of turning out for Poland were harmed by this, and it’s pleasing Karbownik has been able to resurrect his still fairly fresh career in Germany.
Of course, Puchacz is similar to Karbownik in terms of age and the position he plays, but given Poland’s lack of options at left-back (save Bartosz Bereszyński) he’ll be hoping a good six months in Greece could see him back in the Poland squad for the first time since this past summer. You would certainly hope for the sake of his career that Puchacz’s time in Greece will result in regular game time, and all early indications suggest that it will. The move to Union made lots of sense, but he has never been able to break into the first team for whatever reason.
Puchacz’s first game for Panathinaikos is likely to be against Levadiakos on Tuesday, so let’s hope for a strong start to his loan spell.
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