A new Pole between the sticks? Get to know Bartłomiej Drągowski
So, I hear that we’re interested in a new goalkeeper…
Apparently so. Polish media have been reporting that international goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski is a €9 million target for the Foxes, as they look to fill the larger-than-expected Kasper Schmeichel-sized hole in their squad. The 25-year-old currently plies his trade with Spezia in Serie A and has played for the Polish national team.
Stop a sec. How am I supposed to say that name?
Don’t let those odd-looking letters fool you – it’s not that difficult: Bart-wom-yay Dron-goff-skee.
But that sounds nothing like how it looks.
Well, that’s Polish for you. In Polish, the ‘ł’ is pronounced like a ‘w’, the ‘w’ is like a ‘v’, and ‘ą’ is similar to ‘on’. Simple. If you’re struggling, go for “Drążek” (“Dron-zhek”) instead.
Still too many funny-looking letters…
Okay, just go with “Bartek” then.
Perfect. Anyway, let’s not get distracted by a Polish lesson.
Sorry.
Tell me a little about him.
Right. Well, Bartek came up through the ranks at his hometown club Jagiellonia Białystok…
Wait, I’ve heard that name before!
Good memory! Leicester played them in a pre-season friendly back in 2010, when Bartek was still in the youth setup, and we had Conrad Logan and Chris Weale guarding goal.
Anyway, Jagiellonia clearly knew they had a talent on their hands early on. He made his first appearance for the club as a 16-year-old at the end of the 2013/14 season. Within a few months, he’d usurped the team’s two more experienced keepers and become their number one.
Impressive. How’d he get on?
Pretty good, actually. Between the end of August and the end of the season, he kept ten clean sheets as Jaga finished third in the Ekstraklasa – only two points behind eventual winners Lech Poznań. He made a number of brilliant saves and was not only named as the league’s “Discovery of the Season” (an award won by none other than Bartosz Kapustka only a year later), but also its “Goalkeeper of the Year” and ranked third in the list of the league’s best players.
A good sign indeed. Where’d he go from there?
After another decent season in Poland, big clubs soon came sniffing. Still yet to turn 20, Drążek went to continue his footballing education in Italy, with Fiorentina. It took him a while to break into the first team at the Florence club – three years and a loan spell with Empoli, to be exact – but he eventually did so, becoming the Viola’s number one for the 2019/20 season.
He sounds like a decent player. What could we expect from him?
A calmness and maturity which Leicester probably could do with right now. He has also been shown to possess a strong mentality, having bounced back from both injury and a lack of playing time over the last few years; while despite his relatively young age for a goalkeeper, he shows a composure of a player several years his senior.
In terms of his physical attributes, at six-foot-three he’s an intimidating figure – aided in part by his wonderfully maintained, Viking-style beard. He has lightning-quick reflexes, which coupled with his impressive forearm strength allow him to make saves which other keepers might struggle with. He has strong positioning skills, isn’t afraid to open his mouth, and is pretty good at coming to clear crosses.
Sounds just what we need. So why are we only looking at him now, and not when Schmeichel left in the summer?
Well, one of the reasons given for City’s lack of transfer activity over the summer was the absence of a Head of Recruitment until Martyn Glover ridiculously joined after the window closed. Prior to his arrival, Glover previously held the same position at Southampton; and given that, back in the summer, Drągowski was linked with a move to St. Mary’s, it comes as little surprise that he’s now towards the top of the wish list at City.
If reports are to be believed, the Saints initially saw Drągowski as the ideal replacement for the departing Fraser Forster; but in the end opted to sign both Man City’s Gavin Bazuna and Bartek’s compatriot, Mateusz Lis, from Turkish side Altay.
Oh, hang on a minute... So, now we’ve ran out of their defenders to sign, we’re now trying to sign players that Southampton rejected?!
Well, ‘rejected’ is a bit harsh. Southampton pulled out of the race for Drągowski as they were worried they wouldn’t be able to get a work permit for him. Since immigration rules were tightened post-Brexit, it’s become more difficult for clubs to sign players from Europe – particularly those who aren’t national team regulars. At the time, Bartek had just come off the back of a difficult season for Fiorentina, in which he struggled through injury and made only seven appearances for the Viola.
Right, so if he couldn’t get a work permit then, why is he going to get one now?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, he now plays for Spezia – still in Serie A, but much lower in the table. While some might consider the move from Fiorentina as far from an upwards one, it has given him some much-coveted playing time in one of Europe’s top leagues. Due to his injury-ravaged final season in Florence, Southampton had calculated he’d only be eligible for 13 of the 15 required points to make him eligible for a move to the UK. Now though, having kept goal for all of Spezia’s eight league games so far, it’s likely he’ll have picked up those extra few points needed.
Does he not get any points for being a Polish international?
Unfortunately not. While considered one of Poland’s most talented goalkeepers, he’s only currently Poland’s third choice keeper. He still sits behind Juventus’ Wojciech Szczęsny and Bologna’s Łukasz Skorupski in the pecking order.
So he’s not a regular?
He has been picked in the last few squads – most recently for the games against Netherlands and Wales in September – and should be on the plane to Qatar in November. The fact that he’s in the squad at all is a testament to his quality and potential. It’ll take a lot to nudge Szczęsny from his perch, and there isn’t a lot between him and Skorupski for that second spot.
Before Bobby Lewandowski, Poland’s most famous footballing exports were its goalkeepers. Łukasz Fabiański, Artur Boruc, Jerzy Dudek and, ahem, Tomasz Kuszczak, were all Premier League regulars; while going even further back, Jan Tomaszewski was famously the “clown” who stopped England from qualifying for the 1974 World Cup. There are some talented keepers coming through, too, including our own youngster Kuba Stolarczyk.
Drągowski is one of many to come off this impressive production line, but it does mean he faces stiff competition when it comes to the national team.
You did say Bartek had a couple of caps, though. How did he do when he has played?
Well, the first was two years ago, and in the second Poland lost 6-1 to Belgium…
Oh, for f…
It sounds worse than it actually was! For large spells, he had a very good game; and for some of the Belgian goals, it wouldn’t have mattered who was in goal.
The national team coach, Czesław Michniewicz (yes, the same one who led Legia Warsaw to victory over City last September), obviously thinks highly of Drążek, too. The keeper has worked his way back into Michniewicz’s favour after a high-profile spat between the two, which came following Drągowski’s abrupt withdrawal from the then-U21 coach’s squad. Even the notoriously big-headed Tomaszewski has had good things to say about him: “In some regards he is better than me at his age”, Tomek said a few years ago. High praise indeed.
Okay, okay. So if he is that good, surely Spezia wouldn’t let him go for €9 million.
Well, fortunately it’s been reported that he has a release clause in his contract, and that the transfer fee speculated is exactly the amount it will take to trigger it. It does seem an extraordinarily low amount; but having been denied a dream move to the Premier League in the summer, perhaps the decision to move to Spezia in the first place was always with the intention of moving on again sooner rather than later.
Sounds a bit suspect if you ask me… Anyway, when can I see him for myself?
Drągowski’s Spezia take on Monza this afternoon (Sunday) at 2pm, and then host Cremonese next Sunday.