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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

and the Poland national team.

Club career

Early club career

Szymański started his career with

GKS Bełchatów GKS Bełchatów is a Polish professional football club based in Bełchatów. The club currently competes in group I of the III liga. History GKS Bełchatów entered Poland's Klasa A in 1977 under the name of Węgiel Brunatny Bełchatów, and ...

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. They will compete in the Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season after wi ...

announced his transfer to the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

FC Akhmat Grozny Republican Football Club Akhmat (; ), commonly known as Akhmat Grozny, and formerly as Terek Grozny from 1958 to 2017, is a Russian professional Association football, football club based in Grozny that plays in the Russian Premier League. His ...

. 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 Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

to pass his medicals and complete a move to

. 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 Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

. On 20 January 2021, he scored helping to a 2–0 home win against

Apollon Smyrnis Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης), ...

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

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club (), currently known as Asteras AKTOR for sponsorship reasons, commonly referred to as Asteras, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Asteras Tripolis ...

. On 5 December 2021, he was the only scorer in a vital 1–0 home win against rivals Panathinaikos. 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. He is the current head coach of La Liga club Sevilla. Nicknamed ''El Pelado'' ("bald one") despite his traditionally long hair, he ...

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 was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. 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 Paraguayan Primera División club Cerro Porteño. Club career Boca Juniors Born in Buenos Aires, Araujo gra ...

. 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 Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. On 20 April 2023, Szymański signed a new contract with

, 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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. 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 qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

draw against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Szymański was included in the 47-man preliminary squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He was included in the final squad. Szymański was included in the 29-man preliminary squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. He was included in the final squad.

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 I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

: 2013–14 AEK Athens *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

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 ...

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

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 21st-century Polish sportsmen