Image via @EmpoliFC on Twitter
It’s been on the cards for a few days, I wrote about it briefly on Monday, and now it’s confirmed: Szymon Żurkowski is back in Serie A and back at Empoli.
Empoli was the site of Żurkowski’s best football so far, at least in my opinion. This culminated in his finest campaign to date, in 2021/22 with the side who he has now rejoined for his third loan spell.
Indeed, when it looked likely that Fiorentina would sell Żurkowski in summer 2022, Empoli were thought to be at the head of the queue. Unfortunately, Żurkowski was allegedly needed for midfield depth even though he barely got any time on the pitch with the Florence club.
Last season was absolutely horrid for Żurkowski, playing little to no football at Fiorentina prior to the World Cup before being selected by Czesław Michniewicz on account of Poland’s dearth of midfielders. I was there in person to see the worst game most people can ever remember Żurkowski playing in that warm-up friendly against Chile, and I came away from it wondering what on Earth the point in taking such a player so clearly lacking in match rhythm to the tournament was. After joining Spezia on loan 12 months ago, he struggled with constant injuries, missed a near-open goal to put Spezia ahead in their last game of the regular Serie A season before the ignominy of being relegated in the Italian top flight’s first relegation play-off since 2005.
Spezia had an obligation to buy in that loan deal, and Żurkowski likely hoped he would not be in Serie B by the time that clause came to fruition. As it is, Żurkowski and Spezia have struggled badly this season so far, and at time of writing the Ligurian club are second from bottom.
Empoli have taken Żurkowski on a straight loan, with an option to make the deal permanent. You’d hope Żurkowski can prove that his previous spells at Empoli were not mere flashes, and he can replicate his previous energetic performances for them now he’s back in the same environment. The social media team at Empoli certainly seem excited, posting plenty of his old highlights for the club on the official accounts.
Żurkowski is now 26, and realistically needs to start coming good on the promise he has definitely shown in his career up to this point. You get the sense that summer 2022 really was a sort of sliding doors moment for Żurkowski, and if he’d been allowed to stay at Empoli on the back on that second loan spell we might be talking about the sort of midfielder indispensable to the national team even.
Also worth touching on here is that Żurkowski may not be the only Polish player leaving Spezia this January. Bartłomiej Drągowski has allegedly been attracting interest from England again, this time Championship sides in the form of both Leeds and Hull. Both Yorkshire clubs are pushing for promotion to the Premier League, both have a tenuous recent history when it comes to signing Polish players and realistically both are far better equipped to get the best out of Drągowski at this moment in time than Spezia. So far there is nothing concrete other than reports, but you imagine a goalkeeper of Drągowski’s undeniable quality won’t continue to stay at a heavily underperforming Spezia side.
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