Image via Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock
After Spezia were relegated on Sunday night following a 3-1 loss to Hellas Verona in Serie A’s first relegation play-off since 2005, the first question many of us who have a vested interest in Polish football was what would happen to the relatively sizeable list of Polish internationals on the books at the Ligurian club. Bartłomiej Drągowski, Przemysław Wiśniewski, Arkadiusz Reca and Szymon Żurkowski all currently ply their trade with Spezia, although you imagine a least one of them will be looking to leave to a top-flight team.
All four have been signed by Spezia in the last 12 months: Reca’s loan was made permanent last summer and Drągowski was brought in as a new starting goalkeeper, Wiśniewski was signed from Serie B side Venezia in January as a replacement for Arsenal-bound Jakub Kiwior, and Żurkowski has just endured a horrible season, getting little to no playing time at Fiorentina in the first half, enduring a World Cup where he didn’t feature (and in my opinion shouldn’t have been taken to) before suffering a series of injury problems after he signed for Spezia in January on a reported loan with obligation to buy.
This likely means that none of them will be leaving permanently this summer, and why should they? Spezia were by no means Serie A’s worst team and had the relegation play-off not been reintroduced this season they would have stayed up. They’re a pretty well-run club, owned by Polish-American Robert Platek, and in my opinion will probably bounce back to Serie A in time for the 2024-25 season.
However, that’s probably going to be a year too late for four Polish players all vying for the attention of Fernando Santos given that the upcoming season will end with Euro 2024 in Germany, if Poland qualify. We’ve seen this season that playing in a second-tier league still gets you noticed (unless you’re Dawid Kownacki), but realistically they will all have to be playing top-flight football to have a chance of edging out other players in their positions.
Drągowski and Wiśniewski are in the squad for the upcoming internationals against Germany and Moldova, although Reca has had to pull out through injury, sadly a common theme of whenever he is selected for Poland.
As for whether these players are of the standard for top-flight football, even if a little biased, I would suggest so. Drągowski could well have ended up playing in the Premier League this past season if reports in England, Italy and Poland were to be believed, and he’s certainly good enough to be a Serie A goalkeeper. Wiśniewski had for the most part adapted well to being a Serie A defender, although another season in Serie B probably wouldn’t harm his development. Reca contributed effectively enough for Spezia this season, certainly in an attacking sense, which leaves question marks over Żurkowski.
I honestly feel for Żurkowski, because he is clearly a talented and energetic midfield player, but injuries and a lack of game-time this season have clearly hampered any sense of confidence and rhythm in his football. Perhaps a year in Serie B will help him rediscover the electric form he showed on loan at Empoli in 2021-22, having started out on loan to them in Serie B.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see one, two or even all four of Spezia’s Polish contingent loaned out to lower-end Serie A clubs next season, as often can tend to be the case in Italy when a team is relegated. They are all clearly capable of playing at that level, so perhaps we will still see all four in top flight competition next season.
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