Krystian Bielik has been called up for the senior Poland national team for the first time, just weeks after leaving Arsenal.
The Polish national team announced their senior squad on Tuesday, and former Gunner Bielik was among those to be given a call-up.
Bielik played for the Poland u21s at the European Championship over the summer, getting good results against Belgium and Italy before a 5-0 thrashing against Spain saw them eliminated in the group stage.
The 21-year-old still managed to catch the eye in both domestic and international terms though. Derby made their move to sign Bielik from Arsenal, paying up to £10m with add-ons. Now, Poland are promoting the defender to their first team.
Poland face Slovenia away on September 6th and Austria at home on September 9th over the international break, both in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers.
They’re currently comfortably top of their group, five points clear of Israel in second, so they can afford a bit of experimentation before the actual tournament next summer.
Bielik admitted that Unai Emery wanted to give him a chance with Arsenal before he left for Derby, but the opportunity to guarantee regular football at a Championship level was too good to pass up.