After the glory era of the mid-1970s to early-1980s, it seems that Polish football is experiencing a resurgence in recent years. While star man and captain Robert Lewandowski plies his trade abroad, here is a look at some of the best Poland internationals to play their football in the English Premier League.
Łukasz Fabiánski
First on this list is Łukasz Fabiański, a goalkeeper who not only currently plays in the Premier League, but hasn’t left the United Kingdom at all since 2007, when he made his move to Arsenal from Legia Warszawa. The 37-year-old is a veteran of the game, with a staggering 325 combined Premier League appearances between Arsenal, Swansea City and West Ham United. An undoubted legend in Poland, he is sure to go down in Prem history too.
Fabiański was part of a West Ham team that nearly made history themselves last season, after narrowly losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Hammers’ slow start to 2022/23 has seen their odds of finishing in the top six slip to 5/1 on Paddy Power, which offers users the opportunity to bet on Premier League fixtures. With so many teams vying for European spots, Paddy Power also provides Premier League predictions to aid users in their bets. Fabiański and West Ham will hope they can sneak into these places, although that will require a serious upturn in form.
Time for ⚒️vs 🦅#COYI #WHUCRY pic.twitter.com/pDYfOe91ZT
— Łukasz Fabiański (@LukaszFabianski) August 28, 2021
Jan Bednarek
Jan Bednarek made his international debut for Poland in 2017, before securing a move to Southampton the following year. He may have been a relative unknown on the international scene before this point, but since then the 26-year-old has won 44 caps for his country along with 134 Premier League appearances, the vast majority under Ralph Hasenhüttl at Southampton.
While his former Saints boss currently finds himself under pressure, Bednarek himself secured a move further north to Aston Villa. The transfer hasn’t quite gone as planned for the centre-back, with just one appearance in nine matches. The same could be said for Villa themselves, who have only recorded two wins within this time, sitting firmly in the bottom half of the table. It remains to be seen whether manager Steven Gerrard will call upon the Poland international to dig him out of trouble.
Really happy to join @AVFCOfficial ☺️💪🏻😍 pic.twitter.com/ykpr7FD3ig
— Jan Bednarek (@janbednarek_) September 1, 2022
Matty Cash
From a player who was unknown on the international scene some years ago, to someone who wasn’t even Polish at the time. Matty Cash’s change of allegiances to the country is well documented, with the 25-year-old being granted citizenship courtesy of lineage. Since this switch back in 2021, the right-back has made seven appearances for the White and Reds, scoring one goal.
Like Bednarek, though, Cash currently finds himself at an underperforming Villa team who are yet to see any real progression under Steven Gerrard. As a result, the former Liverpool man finds himself increasingly under the spotlight, as the Villans face tough tests against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in their upcoming matches. Bednarek and Cash alike will have to be on top form if Villa is to get out of their rut.
So good to be back out there ⚽️ Tak dobrze być tam z powrotem ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/qXGw2Bquwn
— Matty Cash (@mattycash622) September 30, 2022
With several players consistently playing Premier League football, as well as many others in top leagues elsewhere in Europe, Poland is well-stacked with experienced internationals. They will be put to the test in Qatar 2022 when they come up against Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia in Group C.