Piotr Sebastian Zieliński ( Polish pronunciation: [pjɔtr ʑɛˈliɲski] (); born 20 May 1994) is a Polish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian team Napoli and the Polish 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 [ edit ]

Early career [ edit ]

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 Hereenveen.[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 Calcio after they scouted him on international youth tournament.[2]

Udinese [ edit ]

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.[3]

Empoli (loan) [ edit ]

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

Napoli [ edit ]

On 4 August 2016, after months of transfer speculation, Zieliński moved from Udinese to Napoli for a reported €16 million.[4]

International career [ edit ]

On 4 June 2013, Zieliński made his senior international debut for Poland in a friendly match against Liechtenstein.[5]

In May 2018 he was named in Poland’s preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[6]

Career statistics [ edit ]

Club [ edit ]

As of match played 24 February 2019[7]

Club Season League League Domestic Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Udinese 2012–13 Serie A 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 2013–14 10 0 0 0 1 0 11 0 Total 19 0 0 0 1 0 20 0 Empoli 2014–15 Serie A 28 0 2 0 – 30 0 2015–16 35 5 1 0 – 36 5 Total 63 5 3 0 – 66 5 Napoli 2016–17 Serie A 36 5 4 1 7 0 47 6 2017–18 36 4 2 0 9 3 47 7 2018–19 25 4 1 0 8 1 34 5 Total 97 13 7 1 24 4 128 18 Career total 179 18 10 1 25 4 214 23

International [ edit ]

As of match played 14 October 2018[8]

Poland Year Apps Goals 2013 7 3 2014 1 0 2015 3 0 2016 10 0 2017 8 0 2018 10 3 Total 39 6

International goals [ edit ]

Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first.[8]