Jakub Kiwior’s decision to stay at Arsenal pays off for club and country

June 19, 2024

As last season’s winter transfer window approached, Jakub Kiwior had a decision to make.

He has struggled to get regular appearances for his club Arsenal. At the halfway point of the season he has started just four Premier League games, in two of those four he was substituted before the 65th minute and in only one of those games did he play in his preferred position of centre-back.

Just 12 months after moving from Spezia in Italy, Kiwior was once again thinking about his future.

In the end, he decided to stay and fight for his place – and was rewarded for his decision.

Following the team’s winter break in Dubai, Kiwior started nine consecutive Premier League matches, playing in high-profile Champions League knockout matches against Porto and Bayern Munich. By the end of the season, he had started 20 of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League matches – a significant step forward.

Today he is a member of the Polish squad for the 2024 European Championship.

Since his debut in 2022, Kiwior has become a regular part of the team. His appearance in the opening group match against the Netherlands, a 2-1 loss on Saturday, was his 24th consecutive start for the national team. In two years of international football, he has missed just three minutes. Kiwior is closing in on the Polish record held by Jan Urban, a striker who made 25 consecutive international appearances after making his debut in the 1980s.

If all goes well, he will pass that milestone by the end of the group stage – assuming he plays against Austria on Friday. The third and final first-round match against France four days later would likely be his 26th consecutive appearance for Poland.

For the 24-year-old Kiwior, his participation in this European Championship is the latest step in a dramatic rise.

Just three years ago he was an unknown player playing for the Slovakian club MSK Zilina. Today he is an established international player and plays in the Champions League.

85% – Jakub Kiwior 🇵🇱 won 17 of his 20 Premier League appearances last season (85%), the highest win rate of any player with 15+ games. Reliable. #OnesToWatch #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/6t2Fcin8Dz

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 10, 2024

The last few months have been important for him to settle in at Arsenal. He is described as a relatively calm guy – calm on and off the pitch. This cool temperament is considered one of his strengths and gives him the ability to make good decisions under pressure.

Nevertheless, he has built positive relationships in the dressing room. He takes part in the darts competitions at the training ground and bemoans his inability to beat London Colney’s dart king Aaron Ramsdale. He plays the video game Call of Duty with two of Arsenal’s three Gabis – centre-back Gabriel and striker Gabriel Jesus.

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Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures 2024–25

Coming from a similar part of Europe, it is perhaps no surprise that he has built a good relationship with Oleksandr Zinchenko. It was the Ukrainian who first introduced Kiwior to the Arsenal dressing room.

Kiwior was a guest at the Emirates Stadium for the 3-2 win over Manchester United in January last year. He was due to complete his medical and sign his contract the next day. When Zinchenko spotted Kiwior in the basement of the stadium after the game, he insisted on taking him to the dressing room so he could meet his new teammates and join in the celebrations.

Since arriving at Arsenal, Kiwior has impressed with his technique and athleticism. At his first medical, staff were impressed by his planking ability and pace. He is also working on his flexibility outside of official training.

Kiwior also spends time with his wife Claudia and their two dogs Szarlotka and Krecik, who have their own Instagram account.

In addition to darts, he now also plays golf. He is also an enthusiastic ice hockey fan – his hometown club GKS Tychy is five-time Polish champion.

While Kiwior was persuaded to join Arsenal, the plan was clear: he would be signed as a left centre-back, but games in that position were not easy to come by.

Gabriel and William Saliba have been dominant as first choice and, thankfully for Arsenal, have largely avoided injury. Kiwior has huge respect for both men and has accepted that he will have to be patient while he waits for a chance in his favourite position.

The move to the left-back position came after injuries to Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Zinchenko. Kiwior was originally asked to take on Zinchenko’s role as an inverted full-back, with manager Mikel Arteta and his team looking to help him adapt to one of the team’s more tactically complex positions.

After a short time, the system was adjusted to allow Kiwior to play as a more conventional full-back – and from that point on he really started to fit into the team.

Kiwior sees his time at left-back as a positive step in his development. Arsenal have followed Manchester City’s example of fielding a back four made up entirely of centre-backs – and the Pole has the physical profile to fulfil the role.

He has already shown considerable versatility in his young career. When he played under Thiago Motta at Spezia, the man recently appointed as Juventus’ new head coach initially deployed him in midfield as a No. 6 because he wanted the centre-back to see the pitch from a different perspective. Now, Arteta has given Kiwior a different way of looking at the game.

There is hope that these experiences will benefit him in his development as a central defender, which is certainly how the national team sees him.

“We cannot adapt to what the coach does at the club,” national coach Michal Probierz said in March when asked if he had considered using Kiwior as a full-back. “We have little time and want to improve the current tactics.”

Poland usually play with a back three. Kiwior plays on the left side of that trio and will no doubt benefit from his time on the left at Arsenal, but his future lies in central defence.

Although he has been linked with a return to Italian football, his first focus is on earning more opportunities in his preferred position at Arsenal.

Kiwior is at the heart of Poland’s plans for this European Championship.

His aim is to be seen that way at Arsenal FC too.