Piotr Sebastian Zieliński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈpjɔtr ʑɛˈlij̃skʲi] (listen); 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.
![]() Zieliński playing for Napoli in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Piotr Sebastian Zieliński[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1994-05-20) 20 May 1994 (age 28)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Ząbkowice Śląskie, Poland | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club 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 | 231 | (34) |
National team‡ | |||
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 | 74 | (9) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:12, 12 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 September 2022 |
Zieliński was selected to represent Poland at UEFA Euro 2016 in France, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the pan-European UEFA Euro 2020. He has two brothers who are also professional footballers – Paweł and Tomasz Zieliński.
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]
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]
In 2014, he joined Empoli on loan.[4]
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 2024. On 31 October 2021, not only did he decide the derby between U.S. Salernitana 1919 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 F.C., which concluded in a 4–1 victory for Napoli.[9]
On 4 June 2013, Zieliński made his senior international debut for Poland 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]
On 15 June 2019, Zieliński married Laura Słowiak[12] with whom he has a son, Maksymilian (born 2021).[13] In 2021, he passed an Italian language exam at the B2 level at the University of Naples in an effort to obtain Italian citizenship.[14]
Club | Season | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
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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 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 3 | – | 21 | 6 | ||
Total | 231 | 34 | 16 | 1 | 54 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 302 | 46 | ||
Career total | 313 | 39 | 19 | 1 | 55 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 388 | 51 |
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 | 8 | 2 | |
Total | 74 | 9 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 14 August 2013 | Stadion Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland | ![]() | 3–2 | 3–2 | Friendly |
2. | 10 September 2013 | San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino | ![]() | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
3. | 4–1 | |||||
4. | 27 March 2018 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | ![]() | 3–2 | 3–2 | Friendly |
5. | 8 June 2018 | Stadion Poznań, Poznań, Poland | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–2 | |
6. | 7 September 2018 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A |
7. | 8 June 2021 | Stadion Poznań, Poznań, Poland | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
8. | 29 March 2022 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
9. | 11 June 2022 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands | ![]() | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
Napoli
Poland U21
S.S.C. Napoli – current squad | |
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