Piotr Zieliński


Piotr Sebastian Zieliński is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Napoli and the Poland national team. During his football career he played for such clubs as Zagłębie Lubin, Udinese, and Empoli. He was selected to play in Poland national football team at the 2016 UEFA European Championships in France as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
He has two brothers who are also professional footballers – Paweł and Tomasz Zieliński.

Club career

Early career

Zieliński started his career at his local club, Orzeł Ząbkowice Śląskie, where he was coached by his father. 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 Hereenveen. He rose through the ranks and started training with the first team at the age of 15, under Franciszek Smuda.
At 17 he moved abroad to join Udinese Calcio after they scouted him on international youth tournament.

Udinese

He made his debut in Serie A on 2 November 2012 when he replaced Antonio Di Natale in 91st minute of a match against Cagliari.

Empoli (loan)

In 2014, he joined Empoli on loan. He scored on his debut.

Napoli

On 4 August 2016, after months of transfer speculation, Zieliński moved from Udinese to Napoli for a reported €16 million.. He scored his first goal with Partenopei's shirt on 3 December 2016 against Football Club Internazionale Milano and he ended his first season with six goals.

International career

On 4 June 2013, Zieliński made his senior international debut for Poland in a friendly match against Liechtenstein.
In May 2018, he was named in Poland’s preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.14 August 2013PGE Arena Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
3–2
3–2
Friendly
2.10 September 2013Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino
1–0
5–1
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.10 September 2013Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino
4–1
5–1
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.27 March 2018Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland
3–2
3–2
Friendly
5.8 June 2018Stadion Miejski, Poznań, Poland
2–0
2–2
Friendly
6.7 September 2018Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy
1–0
1–1
2018–19 UEFA Nations League A

Honours

Napoli
Poland U21