Bartosz Salamon (, born 1 May 1991) is a Polish 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 le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Polish club

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

and the Poland national team.

Club career

Early career

Salamon came through the academy of Polish side

after starting his footballing career at Concordia Murowana Goślina.

Brescia and loan to Foggia

Salamon made his

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

debut on 3 May 2008 just two days after his 17th birthday, coming off the bench in the 77th minute of the win against

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

. On 17 January 2009, he appeared in Brescia's starting eleven for the first time, playing the full 90 minutes of the 4–0 win versus

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

. On 9 August, he scored his first goal for Brescia in a 1–0 win over

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. In July 2010, it was announced he would play on loan at

U.S. Foggia Calcio Foggia 1920, commonly referred to as Foggia, is an Italian football club based in Foggia, Apulia. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in the top level Serie A in 1995. The team gained nationwide popularity as Foggia Calcio ...

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

, the third tier of Italian football. He returned to Brescia, in Serie B, for the 2011–12 season. In 2012–13, Brescia decided to play him mainly in central defense.

Milan

On 31 January 2013, Salamon joined

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, signing a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

until 2017, for a fee of €3.5 million. He was given the number 14 shirt. However, he struggled to displace internationals

Philippe Mexès Philippe Mexès (; born 30 March 1982) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre back. He represented AJ Auxerre, Auxerre, A.S. Roma, Roma and A.C. Milan, AC Milan at club level during a career that ...

Cristián Zapata Cristián Eduardo Zapata Valencia (born 30 September 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Atlético Nacional. A quick and physically powerful defender, known for his hard marking of opponents and strength ...

Daniele Bonera Daniele Bonera (; born 31 May 1981) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently working as an assistant coach at AC Milan. Prior to joining Spanish Villareal in 2015, with whom he retired in 2019, he had previo ...

and

Mario Yepes Mario Alberto Yepes Díaz (; born 13 January 1976) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is well known for his time in Paris Saint-Germain, where he was considered to be one of the best defenders at the t ...

in the pecking order.

Sampdoria

On 11 July 2013, Salamon was transferred to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

in a co-ownership deal for €1.6 million, as part of the deal that signing 50% registration rights of

Andrea Poli Andrea Poli (; born 29 September 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Modena. Club career Treviso He started his career in Serie B with his native club Treviso. He made his professional debut aged just 17 year ...

for €3 million. The co-ownership deals were terminated on 9 June 2014, for an additional €4 million (Poli) and €1.6 million (Salamon) respectively. On 1 September 2014 Salamon joined

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

in a temporary deal.

Cagliari

On 31 August 2015, Salamon was sold to

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in a five-year contract for €1 million. Hee made his debut on 7 September 2015, in a 4–0 win over Crotone and with time became a star performener for the club. In the 2015–16 season he won the

title and was thus promoted to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

He was loaned to newly promoted

S.P.A.L. 2013 Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

at the beginning of the 2017-18 season. He made his debut for the club in a 3–2 win against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

Frosinone

On 9 August 2018, Salamon joined to

side

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

on loan until 30 June 2019 with an obligation to buy.

Lech Poznań

On 9 January 2021 he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Polish

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 cl ...

side

. He is a product of their youth system and returned to

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

after nearly fourteen years. In 2023, after Lech's match against

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

, Salamon tested positive for

chlortalidone Chlortalidone, also known as chlorthalidone, is a thiazide-like diuretic drug used to treat high blood pressure, swelling including that due to heart failure, liver failure, and nephrotic syndrome, diabetes insipidus, and renal tubular acidosi ...

, a substance banned by WADA. On 13 April 2023, hours before a home game in the quarter-finals against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

, UEFA suspended Salamon from all competitions for three months. For his offence, Salamon was banned for eight months, starting from the day of his suspension.

International career

Salamon has represented Poland at U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 levels. In September 2010, he received his first call up to the senior

Poland national football team The Poland national football team ( pl, Reprezentacja Polski w piłce nożnej) has represented Poland in men's international tournaments football competitions since their first match in 1921. The team is controlled by the Polish Football Associ ...

, for the matches against the United States and Ecuador. He made his debut on 26 March 2013 in a World Cup qualifying match against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. In March 2016, after a three-year absence the national team squad, he received a call from Poland Manager

Adam Nawałka Adam Nawałka (; born 23 October 1957) is a retired Polish football player and former manager of Poland. Player career Club Nawałka comes from a footballing family. His father, Adam, played for the local team Orlęta (Eaglets) Rudawa. Nawałka ...

for matches against Serbia and Finland. On 30 May 2016, he was called up to

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 populous ...

squad for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, however he was an unused substitute in all the matches

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Cagliari *

: 2015–16 Lech Poznań *

: 2021–22 Individual *

Defender of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* *
Bartosz Salamon profile
at acmilan.com

at aic.football.it

at uefa.com
Lega Serie A profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salamon, Bartosz 1991 births Living people Footballers from Poznań Men's association football defenders Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's under-21 international footballers Poland men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players Brescia Calcio players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Lech Poznań players AC Milan players UC Sampdoria players Cagliari Calcio players SPAL players Frosinone Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Ekstraklasa players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Polish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Doping cases in association football Polish sportspeople in doping cases