Arsenal FC have confirmed the signing of Polish youngster Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw for an undisclosed fee.
17 year old Bielik played for the Polish cluba s first team for a total of 6 times, with one of the appearances in the Europa League. The fee, though undisclosed as is often the case with Arsenal, is believed to be around A?2.5 million.
Bielik is perhaps not the signing that Arsenal fans were looking for, even though he can play as a defensive midfielder as well as a central defender, areas where the gunners are severely lacking in numbers. Being of only 17 years, it is highly unlikely that he will start a game anytime soon, despite everyone calling him the next Patrick Viera.
In fact, Bielik himself said that he wasna t ready for the first team yet. Talking about opting for Arsenal over Hamburg, he said, a First of all, because of Arsene Wenger. He is a legend, ‘The Boss’ as they call him at Arsenal.
In Hamburg, the team has a very young coach and their target for this season is to avoid the relegation from Bundesliga. This also had an impact.
“Yes, Hamburg coach [Josef] Zinnbauer assured me that in the new season he would be putting emphasis on the young players, but such plans could be risky. Things may go the wrong way.
“Certainly it will be harder for me to get through at Arsenal. But if I succeed in three or four years, I will be at the footballing top.
“After all, this is one of the best clubs in Europe and certainly better than Hamburg.
“I’m going to London to fulfil my dreams. I want to prove to the manager that he did not make a mistake by signing me.
“But it does not mean that my goal is playing in the first team right away. I’m not ready yet.”
However, Arsene sought to play up the talent of Bielik, so far as suggesting that he is ready to go straight into the first team for Arsenal. The manager said, a Yes, he will go into the first-team squad. Hea s a defensive midfielder, 6ft 2, he has a good energy level and technical level.
a Ita s a gamble but, on what we saw, ita s worth to take the gamble. Ita s an awful lot of money for a player if he doesna t succeed. If he does succeed, then ita s cheap.a
Quite how this will play out will be interesting to see, though it is extremely difficult to see Bielik getting a chance any time soon ahead of the wealth of talent in midfield. The defence is an entirely different scene though!