3/1 To Win
Krystian Bielik has become Phillip Cocu’s first permanent signing at Derby County after penning a five-year deal with the Rams.
The Poland Under-21 international arrives at Pride Park Stadium from Arsenal, after spending last season on loan at Charlton Athletic in League 1 where he earned the Man of the Match at Wembley Stadium in the Play-Off Final to help the Addicks earn promotion to the Sky Bet Championship.
The versatile youngster has experience playing both in defensive midfield and as a centre-back.
Here is everything you need to know about our new addition…
The Beginning
Born in Konin in Poland, Bielik started playing football for his local side Gornik Konin. By the age of 14 he had been scouted by Polish top-tier club Lech Poznan and went on to join their Academy and won the Polish Under-17 Championships in 2014.
Soon after, however, he joined rival club Legia Warszawa, where he made six first-team appearances.
The Move To England
In January 2015, at the age of 17, Bielik completed a move to Premier League side Arsenal for fee of around £2.4 million.
He made his senior debut for the Gunners later that year in the Carabao Cup Fourth Round when he came off the bench in an away tie at Sheffield Wednesday.
The following year he helped Arsenal knock Nottingham Forest out of the same competition in the Third Round in a 4-0 victory at the City Ground, before going on his first loan spell to Birmingham City for the second half of the 2016/17 season.
Loan Spells
Following on from his loan spell with the Blues where he made 10 appearances as they retained their Championship status, and his recovery from shoulder surgery which limited his appearances during a temporary spell at Walsall, Bielik joined League One side Charlton Athletic on a season long loan.
The youngster gained a full season of first-team experience making a total 34 appearances while scoring four goals in their promotion campaign.
A superb all-round performance in the play-off semi-final against Doncaster Rovers, in which he scored a goal and was instrumental from a defensive point of view helped the Addicks through to the Final.
Bielik was then named Man of the Match at Wembley as Charlton defeated Sunderland 2-1 to earn promotion in the Play-Off Final, signing off his loan spell on a memorable note.
International Honours
Bielik has represented his national team from Under-16 level up to Under-21s.
He impressed this summer while on international duty at the Under-21 European Championships where he scored two goals in three games to finish third in the group stage.
