Piotr_Zieliński
Piotr Sebastian Zieliński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈpjɔtr ʑɛˈlij̃skʲi] ⓘ; born 20 May 1994) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Napoli and the Poland national team. During his senior career he has also played for Udinese and Empoli.
 | The subject of this article is in the news regarding a reported transfer. Information regarding the transfer may be based on anonymous sources or awaiting an official announcement. Breaking news reports may be unreliable. |
_Napoli_(UEFA_Euroleague_Achtelfinalrückspiel_14._März_2019)_28_(cropped).jpg) Zieliński playing for Napoli in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Piotr Sebastian Zieliński[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1994-05-20) 20 May 1994 (age 29)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Ząbkowice Śląskie, Poland | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Napoli | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2007 | Orzeł Ząbkowice Śląskie | ||
| 2007–2011 | Zagłębie Lubin | ||
| 2011–2012 | Udinese | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2016 | Udinese | 19 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | → Empoli (loan) | 63 | (5) |
| 2016– | Napoli | 280 | (37) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009 | Poland U15 | 5 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Poland U16 | 6 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Poland U17 | 10 | (1) |
| 2012 | Poland U18 | 5 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Poland U19 | 15 | (5) |
| 2012–2013 | Poland U21 | 3 | (1) |
| 2013– | Poland | 88 | (11) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:49, 14 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2024 | |||
Zieliński was selected to represent Poland at UEFA Euro 2016 in France, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the pan-European UEFA Euro 2020, and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He has two brothers who are also professional footballers – Paweł and Tomasz Zieliński.
Early career
Zieliński started his career at his local club, Orzeł Ząbkowice Śląskie, where he was coached by his father.[2] At the age of 14, he joined Zagłębie Lubin, even though he was wanted by Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool and also had trials at Feyenoord and Heerenveen.[2] He rose through the ranks and started training with the first team at the age of 15, under Franciszek Smuda.[2]
At 17, he moved abroad to join Udinese after they scouted him on international youth tournament.[2]
Udinese
Zieliński made his debut in Serie A on 2 November 2012 when he replaced Antonio Di Natale in 91st minute of a match against Cagliari.[3]
Empoli (loan)
Napoli
On 4 August 2016, after months of transfer speculation, Zieliński moved from Udinese to Napoli for a reported €16 million.[5] He scored his first goal with Partenopei's shirt on 3 December, in a 3–0 home win against Inter Milan;[6] he ended his first season with six goals. On 31 August 2020, he signed new contract with Napoli until June 2023. On 31 October 2021, not only did he decide the derby between Salernitana and Napoli, scoring the only goal of the game, but with 32 goals he also became the second best Polish goal-scorer in Serie A's history (behind Arkadiusz Milik), beating Zbigniew Boniek's record.[7] On 17 February 2022, he scored a goal for Napoli in a Europa League match against Barcelona which ended in a 1–1 draw.[8] On 7 September 2022, he scored two goals and had one assist in a Champions League match against Liverpool, which concluded in a 4–1 victory for Napoli.[9]
On 4 June 2013, Zieliński made his senior international debut for the Poland national team in a friendly match against Liechtenstein.[10]
In May 2018, he was named in Poland's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[11]
His older brothers Tomasz and Paweł are also footballers.[12] On 15 June 2019, Zieliński married Laura Słowiak[13] with whom he has a son, Maksymilian (born 2021).[14] In 2021, he passed an Italian language exam at the B2 level at the University of Naples in an effort to obtain Italian citizenship.[15] On 6 October 2023, Zieliński formally became an Italian citizen.[16]
Club
- As of match played 14 April 2024[17]
| Club | Season | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Udinese | 2012–13 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| Empoli (loan) | 2014–15 | Serie A | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Serie A | 35 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 5 | |||
| Total | 63 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 66 | 5 | ||||
| Napoli | 2016–17 | Serie A | 36 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 7[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 47 | 6 | |
| 2017–18 | Serie A | 36 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9[lower-alpha 3] | 3 | — | 47 | 7 | ||
| 2018–19 | Serie A | 36 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12[lower-alpha 4] | 1 | — | 49 | 7 | ||
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 37 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 49 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 36 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 47 | 10 | |
| 2021–22 | Serie A | 35 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | — | 42 | 8 | ||
| 2022–23 | Serie A | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 2] | 4 | — | 48 | 7 | ||
| 2023–24 | Serie A | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 1 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 34 | 4 | |
| Total | 280 | 37 | 17 | 1 | 64 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 363 | 51 | ||
| Career total | 362 | 42 | 20 | 1 | 65 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 449 | 56 | ||
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
- Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
International
- As of match played 26 March 2024[18]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 2013 | 7 | 3 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 12 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 12 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 88 | 11 | |
- Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zieliński goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 August 2013 | Stadion Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland |  Denmark | 3–2 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 2 | 10 September 2013 | San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 4–1 | |||||
| 4 | 27 March 2018 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland |  South Korea | 3–2 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 5 | 8 June 2018 | Stadion Poznań, Poznań, Poland |  Chile | 2–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 6 | 7 September 2018 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy |  Italy | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A |
| 7 | 8 June 2021 | Stadion Poznań, Poznań, Poland |  Iceland | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 8 | 29 March 2022 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland |  Sweden | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 11 June 2022 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  Netherlands | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
| 10 | 26 November 2022 | Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar |  Saudi Arabia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup |
| 11 | 21 March 2024 | National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland |  Estonia | 2–0 | 5–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Napoli
Poland U21
- Four Nations Tournament: 2014–15[21]
Individual
- "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of players: Poland" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2019.
- "Skąd się wziął w Udinese Piotr Zieliński?" [How did Zielinski came to Udinese?] (in Polish). Weszło!. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- "Debiut Piotra Zielińskiego w Serie A" [Piotr Zieliński debuts in Serie A] (in Polish). Interia. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- "Empoli, dall'Udinese Zielinski in prestito". www.tuttosport.com (in Italian). 1 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- "Official: Zielinski joins Napoli". Football Italia. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- "Le pagelle di Napoli-Inter: Zielinski dominatore, Perisic non pervenuto". La Repubblica (in Italian). 2 December 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- "Gol Zielińskiego! Polak wyprzedził legendę [WIDEO]" (in Polish). 31 October 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- "Barcelona 1 1 Napoli". Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Liverpool thrashed by Napoli in Champions League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- "Skromna wygrana na pożegnanie Dudka" (in Polish). 90minut.pl.
- "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". goal.com. Goal. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- "Zielińscy. Rodzina, która zawsze pomoże". sportowefakty.wp.pl (in Polish). 12 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- "Kolejny ślub polskiego piłkarza! Piotr Zieliński powiedział "tak" Laurze Słowiak". 15 June 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- "Piotr Zieliński został ojcem. Pokazał pierwsze zdjęcia dziecka". Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- "Piotr Zieliński ubiega się o włoskie obywatelstwo" (in Polish). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- "Zielinski ha ottenuto la cittadinanza italiana" (in Italian). RAI News. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- "Piotr Zieliński". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- "Zieliński, Piotr". National Football Teams. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- "Napoli win Serie A for first time in 33 years". BBC Sport. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
- "Turniej Czterech Narodów U-21: Niemcy 1-2 Polska. Polska zwycięzcą rozgrywek" [Four Nations Tournament U-21: Germany 1-2 Poland. Poland is the winner of the competition]. 90minut.pl (in Polish). 27 March 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- "Lewandowski zdetronizowany. Oto najlepszy polski piłkarz 2023!". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). 24 December 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- Profile at the S.S.C. Napoli website
- Piotr Zieliński at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
- Piotr Zieliński at Soccerway
- Piotr Zieliński at National-Football-Teams.com
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