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Who Is This 22-year Old Polish Star Liverpool Are Chasing?

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By Dakir Thanveer

Liverpool fans around the world are excited to see what business will Klopp do during this summer transfer window. Klopp has already made three signings after taking over as Liverpool manager (Marko Grujic, Joel Matip and Loris Karius). And there is still a long way to go for the transfer window to shut and Liverpool fans expect to see more new faces at the club. One of the players who Klopp is seriously trying to sign is Piotr Zielinski. Many reports say that a deal is already in place, but there is no official announcement yet.
Who is Piotr Zielinski? Here is all you need to know about him:

Basic Player Profile-
Piotr Sebastian Zielinski was born on 20th May, 1994 and is 22 years old. The Polish International’s preferred position is Central Midfield but he can also play as the attacking midfielder. He is 177 cm tall (5.9 ft) and weighs 64 kg. His current club is the Serie A side, Udinese. Last season he played for Empoli, also a Serie A team, as a loan player. For Empoli he wore the number 17.

Player History-
Zielinski started his youth career at his local club, Orzel Zabcowice Slaskie. There he was coached by his father. At the age of 14 he joined Zaglebie Lubin. It has to be noted that even when he was 14, Liverpool had scouted him and wanted to sign him. At the same age he had trials with Feyenoord and Hereenveen. He started training with the first team of Zaglebie Lubin at the age of 15. At the age of 17 he moved to Udinese Calcio.
He made his Serie A debut at the age of 18. On 2nd November 2012 he replaced Antonio Do Natale against Cagliari to make his Serie A debut.
In 2014 he joined Empoli on loan and continued there for two seasons. He has made 63 appearances for Empoli (in Serie A) and has scored in 5 of them.
He made his international debut for Poland at the age of 19. On 4th June 2013, Zielinski made his senior international debut for Poland in a friendly against Liechtenstein.

Playing Style-
In simple words, Piot Zielinski is a deep lying playmaker. He has played 35 matches for Empoli last season and in all of the matches he has occupied the Central Midfielder role and he managed to score five goals and assist four. He is known for his dribbling. He has a good technique and his through passes are effective. He can find his teammates in good positions. Zielinski likes to shoot from outside the box. According to WhoScored.com, his main weaknesses are finishing and aerial duels. He is only 177 cm tall, so it is understandable why he is not good at aerial duels.
If he is compared to one of the players from Liverpool’s current squad, Philippe Coutinho would be the ideal comparison. Like Zielinski, Coutinho during his Inter Milan days also used to be a deep lying playmaker. Both are good at dribbling and can see passes. Zielinski, like Coutinho, also likes to shoot from outside the box.

Conclusion-
It is said that Piotr Zielinski is the finding of Klopp’s ‘Brain’, Zeljko Buvac. If that’s true, then Zielinski might be really talented. Buvac has found amazing talents during his Borussia Dortmund and Mainz days and Zielinski might be one such player. The rumored fee is about 8-10 Million. Several reliable Liverpool journalists have reported that the deal is done and there will be an announcement soon. Liverpool fans could get a glimpse of their potential new signing at the Euros, which begins on 10th June.