Kacper Kozłowski leaves the league for millions of euros. “I fell in love with him”

This is an updated version of the text we released on 03/05/2021 available.

There was talk of Kozłowski’s transfer since he joined the Ekstraklasa. Such a talent could not play in her for a long time. Every coach who led him in the school admitted that he had never seen a more talented boy. Kozłowski was also a big hit with the seniors: he entered the Pogoń training, called himself “uncle” and told the older ones to pass the ball to himself, and after a while he made his debut at the age of 15, 7 months and 3 days. There was no younger footballer in the 21st century who would play in the league. There was also no younger player at the European Championships, and only Włodzimierz Lubański was younger in the national team’s debut. After four training camps, Kozłowski discussed the talent, maturity and great abilities of Kozłowski for a few minutes at a press conference.

– The level that Kacper is already presenting is a rarity. Few people have such experience, sophistication and field awareness at this age. Skills and talent go hand in hand – said the captain of the Polish national team.

Kozłowski has been meeting similar opinions since he was a child. He has always heard that he is the best and shone in every youth squad, but 2021 was a breakthrough in his career. In March he was called up to the adult national team and made his debut in the match against Andorra, in May he announced that he was taking him to the Euro, and in June he let him on the pitch against Spain. In July, he made his debut in the European Cup qualifiers, and later in the season, Kosta Runjaić, who smacked Kozłowski from the first training sessions, finally based the aid measure of Pogoń Szczecin on him. The 18-year-old played in 16 league matches – he scored three goals and assisted in four.

Kacper Kozłowski may leave in winter

He has long been watched by absolute giants – Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Juventus. Medium clubs asked about him – incl. Salzburg, famous for shaping great players, and the ground was studied by so many presidents that Dariusz Adamczuk, the director, joked that he could talk on the phone all day about him. The most specific, however, was Brighton & Hove Albion. Kozłowski boldly announces that he wants to be the best in the world and even cooperation with Juergen Klopp does not impress him much, but he plans his career carefully. Together with his advisers, he decided that you should not go straight to a big club.

Adamczuk confirmed that the talks with the English club (he did not reveal the name, Brighton is the journalists’ agreement) are advanced and that Kozłowski’s departure is possible in winter. Of course, the runner-up in the league wants to avoid this and keep him until the end of the season, so as not to lower his chances in the fight for the title. The more that Lech Poznań will most likely release his best youth player – Jakub Kamiński – only in the summer. Pogoń has a similar plan: to sell in winter, since the offer – as Adamczuk admitted on Radio Szczecin – is to be “twice as high as for Adam Buksa”, i.e. it may reach EUR 10 million, but keep Kozłowski at home until the end of the season as part of the loan . However, it is not yet known whether Brighton, after the transfer, will not loan him to his satellite club, playing in the Belgian league Royale Union Saint-Gillois. We hear that this is one of the few inaccuracies left to be established.

He did not stand out from Musiala and Bellingham

– I fell in love with him during the Mermaid Cup and the match against the English. They were played by Jamal Musiala, who is in Bayern today, Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund and Harvey Elliott from. Amazing team. Kozłowski was the only Pole who, when inserted into the English, would not differ from their skills. There would be no difference. Let us emphasize this: he did not stand out from the most talented boys in the world. It impressed me a lot then – says Jacek Kulig, author of the blog “Football Talent Scout”.

That tournament took place in September 2019, Kozłowski was less than sixteen years old, he was already after his debut in, but before a car accident that slightly slowed down his development. It was January, he was sitting in the passenger seat, he was going to training with his friends, he suffered the most: he broke three vertebrae in the lumbar spine, he was in hospital, a few weeks after leaving, he wore a special corset, in total rehabilitation lasted over half a year. – The most difficult time in my life – admits Kozłowski. – I was visiting him at the hospital then and I saw that it was a difficult moment. Kacper loves to play football, and suddenly he couldn’t do it. It was a blow, a big disappointment. He couldn’t cope with this hiatus. But now you can see that he gained a lot of it – claims Patryk Dąbrowski, coach of the Pogoń Szczecin academy.

The main thing is that he did not lose the confidence that always distinguished him. In the first game in the reserves, he scored a goal in half an hour and assisted in the next one, and the coach liked the coach in the pre-season, but he missed the beginning of the previous season. He returned slowly, carefully, according to the schedule drafted by the doctors. – It’s a huge talent, but it will not be our savior yet. He is supposed to play for the next 15 years, so we have to watch out for him and take care of his health – explained the coach of Pogoń.

She played bolder, faster with Kozłowski on the pitch, and it was easier for her to create big opportunities. He often drove them: fast passing, then dribbling. He was taking risks and creating an advantage. As he took the ball, it was obvious that he was primarily thinking of playing it forward. He did not choose the easiest solutions. This is even better in the current season. Kozłowski added the numbers, although his game is still more impressive than the dry goals and assists statistics.

– We are not surprised. Kozłowski was coming in everywhere as if he were: moving from the U-15 to the U-17, then from the U-17 to the reserve team and from there to the top league. It didn’t need an adaptation anywhere. At the age of 14, he was successful in CLJ, and a year later he was already playing with seniors in the third league. Once in a few years, such boys are born who do not go rung by rung, but move three or four each – explains Sławomir Rafałowicz, head of Pogoń Szczecin scouts and first team analyst.

Top league? Kacper Kozłowski plays like in the backyard

Until the age of ten, Kozłowski played in the yard with his friends – as an amateur, without a coach and no requirements. He waved, played and kicked at will. Today, the coaches claim that it helped him and you can still see backyard habits in his game. – It’s a compliment, because we mean a certain hit, creativity, playing forward, courage. He has a strong mental and is not afraid to transfer what he has trained in the yard to the top league. Nobody ever shouted to him: “Casper, don’t nod.” We don’t do this at our academy. We want our players to nod, create an advantage, not to be afraid of it – explains Dąbrowski.

After one of the backyard matches, Kacper returned home and asked his parents to sign him up for the club. They chose Bałtyk Koszalin. Before the first stress training session, Kacper’s stomach ached, but when it all started, the emotions were only positive. Kozłowski trained there for three years, the coaches had to be creative in order to continue to provide him with conditions for development. And so – sometimes during training games for Kacper they selected only one friend, threw them a goalkeeper and put a six-person team in front of him. Only then was the game fairly even.

During one of the matches – already in full teams – he caught the eye of the sports director of Pogoń. It was impossible to overlook him: he scored two goals, assisted with the next one, and took part in every action of his team. It turned out, however, that they already knew about him in Lech Poznań and they even took him to a pre-season camp. They kept inviting them, but Pogoń didn’t let it go. She encouraged Kacper, persuaded her parents. The shorter distance from Koszalin to Szczecin than to Poznań was also important.

“Pass it to your uncle, uncle will do something with this ball.”

– He entered the academy very confident, he made a joke, a joke. His “uncle” became famous: “Pass it to your uncle, uncle will do something with this ball.” He even said that to older players. He came to us from the Baltic Sea, Koszalin, and quickly arranged them all. He is very confident, but not wayward or arrogant. It balances on this fine line, but does not exceed it. It is well-balanced and helps him on the pitch, because, for example, he is not afraid to dribble or play unconventionally. It’s not uncommon for young footballers to have skills, but they don’t get the most out of them during matches. Their head limits them, so they intuitively opt for simpler solutions. Kacper does not have it, the head harmonizes with the legs. He just knows that he is good – explains coach Patryk Dąbrowski.

Kozłowski sometimes crossed the border. One day, Runjaić forbade him to ride a scooter for fear of an injury, and the next day Kozłowski again reached training this way. He was punished. Another time, he and his friends left the flat rented by Pogoń so that they ended up in the dormitory again. But in the club they emphasize – Kacper is only eighteen, he has the right to make mistakes.

– He has always been mature for his age: physically and emotionally, because he can handle what is happening around him very well. Please note that when he has the ball, with his movements, he even encourages the opponent to come over to him and try to take it. Then he can enter a duel with him, create an advantage and use his good overview of the field. He has such a positive football insolence. He is not afraid of responsibility – adds Sławomir Rafałowicz. – And somebody will probably warn us soon that we will kill Kacper. Relax. We will not do this. He has his long-range goals, and what is now will surely not be satisfied. He is conscious, keeps his feet firmly on the ground, does not fly away.

– This is the greatest talent in Poland among players up to 21 years old. He’s very versatile, he can play any position in midfield, but it’s a modern box-to-box with an inclination to play the ball. It is hard to find a weak point in him. For a teenager, all of his skills are very highly developed. Huge talent. He still has some shortcomings in the defense game, I think he should be working on that. But it cannot be said that he is weak at this, because he makes up for a lot with his aggressiveness. It is rather about some errors in positioning – it is characterized by Jacek Kulig.

– Such a boy is born every few years. So far I have not dealt with a more talented footballer. And you see, I am not afraid that these words will hurt him, because he is dealing with this noise, with these expectations or pressure. It actually motivates him to work even harder, says Dąbrowski. – What to improve? It’s hard to say, because he has a good punch, a vision of the game, and creativity, and everything is technically correct for him. Maybe these speed parameters, because he is not a sprinter, he lacks gas. But that’s very hard to fix. You can only gain hundredths of a second – explains the coach of the Pogoń Szczecin Academy.

– This speed can be perceived in two ways. Indeed, the motion one could be at a better level for him, but it is worth noting that with the ball by his leg he becomes fast. He leads it in an unconventional way, operates it quickly, reacts quickly to what is happening on the pitch, thinks quickly. It’s speed too, right? – Rafałowicz smiles.

He was stressed at school. He’s prepared on the pitch

So far, Kacper Kozłowski has 40 matches played in the league. There would have been more of them had it not been for the above-mentioned incident. Less experienced players left the league for a lot of money: Bartosz Białek left after 19 appearances in the league. and Michał Karbownik, at the time of signing the contract with Brighton, had 31 of them each, Pogoń itself sold Sebastian Walukiewicz after 32 matches in the league.

– Just let him get better. It has always been so that the rivals did not matter to him, he did not look back at them, but played his own. He came out for the Belgian national team, for the English playing for or other Premier League clubs, he made his debut in the Premier League and showed his skills everywhere. He had no blockade – says coach Dąbrowski. He will most likely join the Premier League, and first the Belgian Premier League, as well. No fear, stress or worry. Kozłowski jokes that he was stressed at school when he was unprepared and had to improvise or cheat. He is prepared to play football, so there is no need to worry. The Spaniards at the Euro did not scare him either.

– I watch the national team at different levels and I have not seen a boy with such potential. For his age, he is almost complete, although he must continue to work hard. And again – here, too, he can not be accused of anything, because I have never seen him blink. Workaholic. Talented workman. And this is a very good combination – summarizes coach Dąbrowski.