There is reportedly ‘heavy interest’ in Arsenal’s Krystian Bielik from England’s second tier as Charlton hope to extend the u21 Polish international’s successful stay at the club.

BOLOGNA, ITALY - JUNE 19: Krystian Bielik of Poland celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the 2019 UEFA U-21 Group A match between Italy and Poland at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium on June 19, 2019 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
BOLOGNA, ITALY – JUNE 19: Krystian Bielik of Poland celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the 2019 UEFA U-21 Group A match between Italy and Poland at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium on June 19, 2019 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

After Bielik’s successful loan with Charlton Athletic last season ended with a man-of-the-match performance in the playoff final to confirm their promotion, there was some talk that the centre-back might extend his stay for another season.

It seems like the defender has been around for ages, having joined in early 2015, but he’s still just 21 years old. This was the first season in a while he’s managed to stay (mostly) fit, so another loan to the Championship wouldn’t be the strangest idea.

However, Charlton head of recruitment Steve Gallen says the defender is going to return to Arsenal and try to prove he deserves a first-team chance.

“We’ll look at the loans a little bit later, not so many clubs will be keen on loaning a player out today or tomorrow,” Gallen said (via Football.London).

“Players like Josh (Cullen) and Krystian (Bielik) will go back to their clubs for pre-season and be looking to convince their managers that they should be in their first team squads.”

Bielik won’t be involved in pre-season right away as the timing of the u21 European Championships means he’ll still be on holiday when Arsenal start their tour. He’ll be hoping for a chance when he does return though. He scored the winner for his country against Italy on Wednesday as Poland won the game 1-0, and it was quite the goal:

https://twitter.com/unitedftbl/status/1141434786122280960

Gallen went on to hint that Charlton have already started conversations with clubs they’ve taken players on loan from previously, possibly suggesting more Arsenal youngsters could head their way this summer.

“We’ve had conversations with some of the clubs we’ve worked with before to try and tee up maybe one or two potential loans but that will be later in July, to be honest,” the Charlton chief said.

Bielik himself has since spoken out to say he won’t stay in North London to play academy football.

“My future is unknown but there is one thing I can say for sure: I will definitely not go back to Arsenal U23 team,” Bielik said (via Arseblog).

“At this stage, it wouldn’t make sense. If I do not receive the possibility to join the first team permanently, I will have to look for other solutions.

“I feel like a senior player now so I want to play senior football. This is, however, not the right moment to discuss these issues as I want to be 100% focused on the European Championships.”