Damian Dawid Szymański (born 16 June 1995) 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 midfielder for Greek Super League club AEK Athens, which he

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and the Poland national team.

Club career

Early club career

Szymański started his career with GKS Bełchatów.

Akhmat Grozny

On 12 January 2019,

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 foot ...

announced his transfer to the Russian Premier League club

FC Akhmat Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat ( ce, футболан клуб Ахмат Соьлжа-ГӀала; russian: Республиканский футбольный клуб Ахмат Грозный), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, is a Russian ...

. Three days later Akhmat confirmed that the club signed a 4.5-year contract with Szymański.

AEK Athens

On 13 January 2020, Szymański travelled to Athens to pass his medicals and complete a move to AEK Athens. The Polish midfielder will join the Greek club on an initial six-month loan, and AEK will maintain the right to buy him for a fee of €1,500,000. One day later, the deal was made official and Szymański was presented by his new club. On 30 June 2020, Szymański signed a four-year contract with AEK after his transfer from Akhmat Grozny was made permanent. The Greek club paid €1,300,000 for his services, while Akhmat will keep a resale rate of 15%. Five days later, Szymanski scored his first goal for the club, sealing an emphatic 4–1 away win against Aris Thessaloniki. On 20 January 2021, he scored helping to a 2–0 home win against

Apollon Smyrnis Apollon Smyrnis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Απόλλων Σμύρνης), or in its full name Gymnasticos Syllogos Apollon Smyrnis ( el, links=no, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης, ''Gymnastics Club Apollon o ...

for the first leg of the Greek Cup round of 16. On 15 February 2021, he sealed a dramatic 4–2 away win against AEL, after a low cross from

Levi García Levi Samuel García (born 20 November 1997) is a Trinidadian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club AEK Athens and the Trinidad and Tobago national team. García began his professional football career in 2 ...

. The following week, Szymański scored a brace in a 2–2 home draw against

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

. On 5 December 2021, he was the only scorer in a vital 1–0 home win against rivals

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. At the start of the 2022–23 season, the appointment of

Matías Almeyda Matías Jesús Almeyda (; born 21 December 1973) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Nicknamed ''El Pelado'' ("bald one") despite his traditionally l ...

as the club's new coach helped Damian to revive his career, eventually receiving a call-up for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

. He also became the team's second captain, behind

Sergio Araujo Sergio Ezequiel Araujo (born 28 January 1992), nicknamed El Chino, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club AEK Athens, for which he is captain. Club career Boca Juniors Born in Buenos Aires, ...

. The Argentine coach managed to harness his athleticism and passion, making him a significant member of the team, thus attracting interest from various clubs including Standard Liège. On 20 April 2023, Szymański signed a new contract with AEK Athens, running until the summer of 2027.

International career

Szymański debuted for the Polish senior squad on 7 September 2018 in a

2018–19 UEFA Nations League A The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A was the top division of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA ...

game against Italy. He started for the return game against the same country on 14 October. On 8 September 2021, Szymański scored his first goal, an equaliser in the injury time of the second half during a 1–1

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

draw against England.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Szymański goal.''

Honours

GKS Bełchatów * I liga: 2013–14 AEK Athens *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Greek Cup:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanski, Damian 1995 births Living people People from Kraśnik Footballers from Lublin Voivodeship Men's association football midfielders Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's international footballers GKS Bełchatów players Jagiellonia Białystok players Wisła Płock players FC Akhmat Grozny players AEK Athens F.C. players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece