Krystian Bielik says he’s not sure where he’ll be playing football next season insisting his focus is fixed firmly on helping Charlton secure promotion and Poland’s campaign at the under-21 European Championships in Italy.
The 21-year-old has made 31 appearances for the Addicks this season and earned plaudits for his versatility after impressing both in midfield and defence.
It remains to be seen whether Unai Emery considers the Pole an option for his Arsenal squad next season but in the meantime, having helped Lee Bowyer’s side to the League One play-off final at Wembley, he’s keen to sign off with a win over Sunderland tomorrow.
“I really like the [Charlton] training ground, the players and staff – everything is great here,” said Bielik, who scored a cracking header in the play-off semi-final second leg against Doncaster. “But I can’t really tell you what is going to happen next season.
“I don’t know. There is the Euros in front of me. I’m just trying to focus on football now – the final and the Euros.
“I don’t really talk about other stuff with my agent. It is about football and he will decide when it is a good time to tell me about everything.
“But right now I don’t think about any offers or new contracts.
“I have 23 people coming to the game [on Sunday] – not all of my family, but 23 people who are really important to me. They will be there not just to support me but the whole team. They fly in from Poland and then we all fly back together to Poland, because then I only have a few days break before I start the training camp for the Euros.
“Hopefully after the Euros has finished I will get a few weeks off.”
Since signing as a 17-year-old from Legia Warsaw, Bielik has made just two League Cup appearances for Arsenal. He’s had a tough time with injuries but this season has again proved that he’s capable of dealing with the rough and tumble of English football’s lower leagues.
It’ll be interesting to see if he gets more of a chance at the Emirates next campaign although we suspect his upcoming international responsibilities may well see him miss the start of pre-season which could, in turn, have a knock-on effect on his chances of making a breakthrough. We’ll see.
In the meantime, good luck at Wembley, Krystian! It’s sure to be a massive occasion for all involved.
Would love him to come back and succeed.
Good luck at the Euros.
Give him a new contract and loan him back to charlton if they get promoted
Sign him and loan him to a first division club in Germany next season. Xhaka replacement with more height and mobility in two years time in my opinion
I assume he has the great passing range of Xhaka and will form a great partnership with Torreira. Emery has a good reason for playing Xhaka in every match
He is a very good passer, which was the first thing he really showed off in our u18/21/23s when he 1st arrived. Although that’s rather a different level to the PL.
Do I sense a bias against Bielik or players coming from League 1 and the Championship? This here is a player with more consistency than Guendouzi, and it seems that Lorient teenagers are highly sought after, while we scoff at the talent here in England. Wolves were the stand-out team from the Championship last season. I mentioned on ACLF, that it would be good if we could grab Ruben Neves from them. Look at what they did this season, straight from the Championship to 7th in the Premiership. If we keep kidding ourselves, then players like Maddison, Sessegnon, Grealish and… Read more »
‘Grab’ Ruben Neves?! He’d be at least £60m- not as though Wolves need cash. And he’s not exactly an unnoticed talent- hes capped for Portugal, is what, 22? And was exceptional in the championship and pretty damn good in the Prem. Out of our league right now I’m afraid.
The grab comment was from last year before the promotion. ???
So less than a year after they splurged 16m on him on a long-term contract and were running away with the league? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a cracking talent but he’s not really comparable to Guendouzi, and wasn’t even when he signed for Wolves. Bielik has done well this season it seems, but it’s a hell of a long way up from L1. He doesn’t have the mobility required to play midfield for us going forward from what I know (stand to be corrected though) – I think agility and turning speed are Xhaka level. If he has a… Read more »
Those mobility and agility comments are way off the mark in terms of accuracy.
His point is, if there were rumours of Never last summer, I’m pretty sure 99% of the fans here would be crying in agony. “Why are we getting a championship player?” they would say. His point is we’re seemingly biased against our own lower divisions, but will get excited over an international Ligue 2 player. This idea that because he’s only played well in Ligue 2 means he has to prove himself first at Championship or Germany is a bit arrogant. Both Song and Coquelin went on loan to lower leagues (all Charlton, interestingly) and came straight into the first… Read more »
I hope we get him to sign a new deal and keep him for next season, I certainly prefer him to Chambers.
Deserves a chance.
I was hoping he would get a chance on the pre-season tour but then realised the Euros means he won’t be going. I really rate Kris Bielik and hope he gets a chance, he’s a really good young player who has been under the radar for a while now.