Adrian Mierzejewski (; born 6 November 1986) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

club Henan Songshan Longmen.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with county rights. ...

, Mierzejewski began his career at local side Tempo 25 Olsztyn, then he moved to Naki Olsztyn. On 31 May 2003, aged 16, he made his

II liga II liga (Druga Liga, ), currently named eWinner II liga due to sponsorship reasons by eWinner, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season ''II Liga'' refer ...

debut for Stomil Olsztyn in a game against

Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki () is a Polish football club based in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Masovian Voivodeship. History This team played 2003–2004 in Ekstraklasa under the name "Lukullus Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki" for first time, but it ...

, coming on as a substitute for Marcin Kubsik in 79th minute. He ended the 2002–03 season having made three league appearances, all as a substitute. After the season, he returned to Naki Olsztyn.

Wisła Płock

In 2004 Mierzejewski signed a five-year contract with

Wisła Płock Wisła Płock Spółka Akcyjna (''Wisła Płock S.A.''), commonly referred to as Wisła Płock (), is a Polish professional football club, based in Płock, Masovian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national fo ...

for a fee of 15 000 złotys. He made his

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

debut on 15 May 2004 in a match against

Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski (), previously Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski, was a Polish football club based in Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Greater Poland Voivodeship. History Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski was founded on 30 April 1922. Its lo ...

, when he came on as a substitution for Dariusz Romuzga 86th. He made his first league on start on 8 June 2004 in a 1–1 draw with

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , "Miners Sporting Club") is a Polish football club based in Katowice, Poland. The club currently plays in the I liga, after having won promotion in 2021. History In 1963 in Katowice a special organizational co ...

. Mierzejewski played 45 minutes and was replaced by Klaudiusz Ząbecki. He ended the 2003–04 season with three league appearances. On 10 November 2004 he scored his first goal for Wisła in a 5–1 win over Kujawiak Włocławek in the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

. On 1 May 2005 Mierzejewski scored his first Ekstraklasa goal in a game against

Górnik Łęczna Gornik may refer to one of the following. * Gornik, Pleven Province, a village in Chechen Republic * April Gornik, an American painter *Górnik (means " Miner" in Polish) is a common name of Polish sports teams: **Górnik Konin ** Górnik Łęczna ...

which Wisła lost 2–3. Mierzejewski ended the 2004–05 season with 18 appearances and four goals in all competitions. On 11 August 2005 he made his debut in European competition playing in a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

second qualifying round match against Grasshopper. Mierzejewski ended the 2005–06 season with 27 appearances and two goals in all competitions. He also won the Polish Cup with Wisła. However, he didn't play in the final. After six appearances for Wisła in the 2006–07 season, on 23 February 2007 he was loaned for six months to

Zagłębie Sosnowiec Zagłębie Sosnowiec () is a football club based in Sosnowiec, Poland. The club was established in 1906. It won Polish Cup four times (1962, 1963, 1977, 1978), and also was four times Polish runner up (1955, 1964, 1967, 1972). Apart from footbal ...

. He made his debut for Zagłębie on 10 March in a league game against

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish association football, football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 Ekstraklasa, 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, ...

and a month later in a 3–0 victory over Kmita Zabierzów he scored his first goal for a new club. He ended the season with 20 appearances and one goal in all competitions. Zagłębie was promoted to Ekstraklasa, but Wisła was relegated. In the 2007–08 season Mierzejewski made 19 appearances and scored two goals in all competitions. In the autumn round of the following season he scored eight goals in 20 matches including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in an 8–0 victory over ŁKS Łomża in the Polish Cup.

Polonia Warsaw

On 22 December 2008 Mierzejewski signed a three-year contract with

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw ( pl, Polonia Warszawa, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing Varsovian sports club, best known for its football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, swimming, chess, mountain biking, and contract ...

. He made his debut for Polonia on 27 February 2009 in the

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

match against Legia Warsaw (0–0). In the following match, on 7 March, he scored his first goal, in an away game against

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

which Polonia lost 1–2. Mierzejewski ended the 2008–09 season with 18 appearances and one goal for Polonia in all competitions. Also, he made one appearance for the

Młoda Ekstraklasa Młoda Ekstraklasa (, official abbreviation MESA or (rarely) literally in English: The Young Ekstraklasa) was a Polish youth football league composed of the top youth teams of the 16 Ekstraklasa sides. The games were organized with the aim of en ...

team. On 23 July 2009 he scored his first goal in a European competition in a 4–0 victory over Juveness/Dogana in the second qualifying round of the

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spai ...

. In the 2009–10 season he was a first-team player. Overall, he made 36 appearances and scored three goals in this season. On 18 August 2010 he extended his contract with Polonia to 2013. During his time at Polonia he emerged on the national stage winning the "Ekstraklasa player of the year award" in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season in which he also captained Polonia's team.

Trabzonspor

He signed a 5-year contract with

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on 16 June 2011. Trabzonspor paid 5.25 million euros for him, an all-time record for an

player at that time.

Al Nassr FC

On 11 June 2014,

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

announced on their

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account the signing of Adrian Mierzejewski. However, the player didn't complete his transfer at that time as he was during the negotiations process with the Saudi Arabian team. It became official on 20 June 2014, when Mierzejewski signed a three-year contract with

for a €3.2 million fee. Mierzejewski debuted in

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السعودي) is an annual super cup football match organised by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2022 ...

match against Al Shabab, on 7 August 2014. He gave assist to

Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Mohammad Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Sahlawi ( ar, محمد ابراهيم محمد السهلاوي; born 10 January 1987) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Al-Sahlawi won the best player of the league twice in a row in ...

who scored the first goal in

. He scored his first goal in league against

Najran SC Najran Sport Club ( ar, نادي نجران الرياضي) is a Saudi Arabian football team based in Najran Province, they are currently playing in the Saudi First Division. Najran SC achieved promotion to the Saudi Premier League by finishin ...

on 15 August 2014. Then he scored twice against

Al Raed Al Raed Saudi Football Club ( ''Nādī ar-Rāʾid'', "Pioneer Club") is a Saudi football club based in Buraidah, and the first of its kind in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. One of the club's notable founders is Abdulaziz Al-Aboudi. Established ...

in 2nd week. On 13 September 2014, he scored a goal for

in MatchDay 4 against former champion Al Fateh. In

2015 AFC Champions League The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande won the tournament ...

, he scored his 1st goal against Iranian side

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

. With

, he played in all the six

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

matches, scoring just 2 goals and failed to qualify for the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. On 10 May 2015, Adrian helped

win their 2nd consecutive league title. He played 25 games in

2014–15 Saudi Professional League The 2014–15 Saudi Professional League (known as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 39th season of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its ...

, scoring 8 goals. He is the 2nd top scorer of

in league.

Sydney FC

On 12 August 2017, Mierzejewski signed a three-year deal with A-League champions Sydney FC. Mierzejewski made his debut and scored his first goal for Sydney FC in the 3–0

2017 FFA Cup The 2017 FFA Cup was the fourth season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 32 teams began competing in the competition proper (from the round of 32), including the 10 A-League teams and 21 Football F ...

win over Bankstown Berries, dispatching a penalty in 90+1. The Pole scored his first league goal from the penalty spot as well, in a 2–0 win against Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium. In the

2017 FFA Cup Final The 2017 FFA Cup Final was the 4th final of the premier association football knockout cup competition in Australia. The match was held at Allianz Stadium, as determined by Football Federation Australia (FFA), making it the first FFA Cup Final h ...

, Mierzejewski won the Mark Viduka Medal for Man of the Match, as the Sky Blues beat Adelaide United 2–1 AET. This good form continued, with Mierzejewski scoring 2 goals for Sydney in the Sydney Derby record 5–0 win. He was instrumental to the game, being named the Man of the Match. On 29 April 2017, Mierzejewski has taken out the 2017/18 Johnny Warren medal for best player in the A-League finished 11 points clear of Dimitri Petratos and Leroy George.

Changchun Yatai

On 8 July 2018, Mierzejewski transferred to

side Changchun Yatai.

Chongqing Lifan

On 13 February 2019, Mierzejewski transferred to fellow Super League side

Chongqing Lifan Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic () is a defunct Chinese football club. The team was based in Chongqing. The club was founded in 1995 as Wuhan Qianwei before making their debut in the newly developed fully professional Chinese football league syst ...

International career

Mierzejewski played for U18, U19, U20 and U21 national teams. On 29 May 2010 he debuted for the national team of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against Finland. On 5 June 2011 he scored his first goal for the national team, giving his team a 1–0 lead in a friendly match against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The match ended with a 2–1 victory for Poland.

Career statistics

Club

¹ All appearances in Ekstraklasa Cup.
² Three appearances in

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

and three appearances and one goal in

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Foot ...

.
³ All appearances in

.
⁴ Two appearances and on goal in

and three appearances in

International goals

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first.''

Personal life

On 11 June 2011 Mierzejewski married his girlfriend Małgorzata. The couple started dating when they were both attending V

Liceum Ogólnokształcące A general education liceum (Polish: ''Liceum ogólnokształcące'' ) is an academic high school in the Education in Poland, Polish educational system. They are attended by those who plan to further their academic education upon graduation from Educa ...

in Olsztyn.

Honours

Club

; Al-Nassr *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

: 2014–15 ;Sydney FC * A-League Premiership: 2017–18 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual

Player of the Month: August 2014 * Mark Viduka Medal:

*A-League Player of the Month: December 2017, February 2018 *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new nat ...

: 2017–18 *Alex Tobin Medal: 2017–18 * A-League Team of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mierzejewski, Adrian 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Olsztyn Polish footballers Poland international footballers Poland youth international footballers Poland under-21 international footballers Polish expatriate footballers Association football midfielders OKS Stomil Olsztyn players Polonia Warsaw players Wisła Płock players Zagłębie Sosnowiec players Trabzonspor footballers Al Nassr FC players Sharjah FC players Sydney FC players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Henan Songshan Longmen F.C. players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Süper Lig players Saudi Professional League players UAE Pro League players A-League Men players Chinese Super League players UEFA Euro 2012 players Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate footballers in China Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Polish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Polish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Polish expatriate sportspeople in China