Images via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock and @acspezia on Twitter
Over the past two years since Polish-American businessman Robert Platek acquired Spezia, there has been a steady stream of Polish players lining up for Spezia. Jakub Kiwior and Arkadiusz Reca were brought in towards the end of August 2021, Bartłomiej Drągowski was purchased in summer 2022 and both Szymon Żurkowski and Przemysław Wiśniewski were purchased this past month, with the latter replacing the Arsenal-bound Kiwior.
It’s legitimately exciting to see so many Polish players at one club side; not since the legendary Dortmund side under Jürgen Klopp could we count on seeing three Polish players in the starting line-up in a top European league.
The Platek family are in the process of acquiring ŁKS Łódź in the Polish I Liga, and whilst they have not made it clear if they plan on turning ŁKS into an affiliate, it does seem quite promising for Polish football as a whole to have a domestic side linked to a foreign club intent on bringing in Polish players.
Of course, that’s the long term vision, but what of the short term? Spezia have a Polish goalkeeper, defender, wing-back and central midfielder, and it would not surprise me if the next Polish player that Spezia target will be a striker of some sort. It’s a department the club are relatively thin of in terms of numbers, with them having just brought in Eldor Shomurodov on loan from Roma and Latvian Raimonds Krollis.
Spezia were practically the only Serie A club able to even slightly splash the cash, and even then this was only due to the sale of Kiwior to Arsenal. As pointed out by a great article today in The Athletic by James Horncastle, the financial state of Serie A is seriously troubling, as many of the clubs are debt-ridden and there is a knock-on effect from Juventus’ financial issues, which threaten to get even worse with the sporting and criminal proceedings against the Old Lady.
The likelihood of Spezia signing another Polish player in summer is high, simply on account of the fact they need to become less reliant on loans as they cement themselves as a Serie A side and the fact their “buy low, sell high” policy lends itself to players perhaps overlooked by bigger clubs, and tied with the heritage of the owners seems to lend itself to Polish players.
As I said, striker would be the most sensible area for Spezia to next invest in, and of the Polish strikers available on the market, who make sense for the club from Liguria bearing in mind their transfer policy? Well, Dawid Kownacki will be available on a free this summer, although you imagine he may be reluctant to try his luck in Italy after his stop-start adventure with Sampdoria. Szymon Włodarczyk is a young striker seemingly in demand, although the MLS and NYC FC looks likely to be his destination.
I wouldn’t rule out Spezia acting like they did in the case of Wiśniewski and poaching someone from a Serie B side, such as Adrian Benedyczak at Parma. However, if I had to make a prediction about who Spezia are most likely to sign for this position I would take a look at Filip Szymczak. I wrote in my article the other day that he, alongside Włodarczyk, is the most promising young striker in the Ekstraklasa and that there has been some foreign interest in him, but nothing concrete. If Spezia are looking to do a deal direct from the Ekstraklasa (something they have not yet), then perhaps they should be casting an eye over Szymczak before he develops further and his price invariably skyrockets.
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