Michał Karbownik (born 13 March 2001) 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 defender for

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. He has made four appearances for the Poland national team at senior level.

Club career

Early career

Karbownik was born in the city of

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

, located 62 miles south of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. He began his football career at Zorza Kowala at the age of 10. In 2012, he joined a local club Młodzik 18 Radom.

Legia Warsaw

In 2015, Karbownik joined

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

. He joined the Academy, and was soon promoted to Legia's reserve team in 2016. In 2019, he began training with the first team, and on 25 August 2019, he made his debut for Legia in a 3–2 away win against

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...

, providing an assist for

Dominik Nagy Dominik Nagy (born 8 May 1995) is a Hungarian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for Nyíregyháza Spartacus FC, Nyíregyháza. He was also part of the Hungarian U-19 at the 2014 UEFA European ...

. He impressed the following game in a 3–1 win against

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of na ...

, where he provided an impressive assist for

Jarosław Niezgoda Jarosław Niezgoda (born 15 March 1995) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer. Career He was acquired by Portland in January 2020. He suffered a torn ACL during a November 2020 ...

. Karbownik quickly established himself as a key player for Legia and became a regular starter. In May 2020, Karbownik extended his contract with Legia until 2024. Karbownik was a key player in Legia's

2019–20 Ekstraklasa The 2019–20 Ekstraklasa (also known as PKO Ekstraklasa due to sponsorship reasons) was the 94th season of the Polish Football Championship, the 86th season of the highest tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its e ...

triumph, and soon gained recognition. In January 2020, he was named by UEFA as one of the Best Young Players to look out for in 2020. In February 2020, he was named the 'Discovery of the Year' by Polish football magazine " Piłka Nożna". He won the Ekstraklasa 'Best Youngster of the Season' award for the 2019–20 season, and was in the 40-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 6 October 2020, he signed for English club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

for a transfer fee of £3 million.

Legia Warsaw (loan)

Karbownik was immediately loaned back to former club

until the end of the season. Under new head coach

Czesław Michniewicz Czesław Michniewicz (; born 12 February 1970) is a Polish football manager and former player who managed the Poland national team in 2022. Managerial career Early years In September 2003, Michniewicz was appointed as the manager of Lech Pozna ...

, Karbownik began to play in the midfield (having previously played at left-back under

Aleksandar Vuković Aleksandar Vuković ( sr-cyrl, Александар Вуковић, ; born 25 August 1979) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Polish Ekstraklasa club Piast Gliwice. Club career He started his care ...

). On 2 November 2020, Legia confirmed that Karbownik tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, which omitted him from Legia's upcoming games. He made a return to the team on 29 November, in a 2–2 draw against

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

. However, on 8 December, Legia announced that Karbownik was ruled out of the squad for the rest of 2020 due to stress fractures in his tibia, and was recommended to rest to avoid aggravating the injury.

Return to Brighton

On 17 January 2021, Brighton announced they had recalled Karbownik from his loan at Legia. Karbownik made his debut for Brighton on 10 February 2021, starting and playing the full match in the 1–0 away defeat against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in the FA Cup fifth round. He made his second Brighton appearance and first of the 2021–22 season in ''Albions 2–0 away victory over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in the EFL Cup second round on 24 August 2021.

Olympiacos (loan)

On 28 August 2021, it was announced that Karbownik would join Greek champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He made his debut on 12 September, starting in the 0–0 home draw against

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

where he was later substituted.

Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan)

Karbownik signed for

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

of the

on 4 August 2022, on a season-long loan.

Hertha BSC

On 8 August 2023, German side

announced the signing of Karbownik on a three-year deal.

International career

In September 2020, Karbownik was called up for

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 ...

's upcoming

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

fixtures against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, however he did not make an appearance in any of the two fixtures. On 7 October 2020, a day after completing his transfer to

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, he made a debut for the national team in a 5–1 win against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, providing an assist for

Arkadiusz Milik Arkadiusz Krystian Milik (; born 28 February 1994) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Serie A club Juventus F.C., Juventus, on loan from Ligue 1 club Olympique de M ...

. In the following two games, he came on as a substitute for

Kamil Jóźwiak Kamil Jan Jóźwiak (born 22 April 1998) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Granada and the Poland national team. He began his professional career in his home country with Lech Poznań, from whom he joine ...

in Poland's 0–0 draw against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and Poland's 3–0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Legia Warsaw *

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 ...

: 2019–20,

2020–21 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 ...

Olympiacos *

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 ...

: 2021–22 Individual *Ekstraklasa Defender of the Season: 2019–20 *Ekstraklasa Young Player of the Season: 2019–20 *Ekstraklasa Young Player of the Month: December 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karbownik, Michal Living people 2001 births Footballers from Radom Men's association football midfielders Polish men's footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Poland men's under-21 international footballers Poland men's international footballers Legia Warsaw II players Legia Warsaw players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Hertha BSC players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Polish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Polish expatriate sportspeople in England Polish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany