Michał Żuk (born 2 January 2009) is a Polish-Spanish

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

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Blanes Blanes () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Selva (comarca), Selva in Province of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain. During Roman rule it was named Blanda or Blandae. It is known as the ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain, to Polish parents from

Zamość Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...

Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...

, Żuk grew up in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, starting his career with Aqua Hotel, where he scored 27 goals in 16 games as a midfielder. This caught the eye of Spanish giants

, and he joined the Catalan club's

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

academy in 2016. Żuk progressed well through Barcelona's youth ranks, racking up over 400 goals by the time he was eleven. He was seen as one of Barcelona's biggest young prospects. In June 2022, Michał and his brother Miłosz moved to

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

due to their parents relocating to Poland. However, only a year later, it was reported by Spanish journalist Albert Rogé that Żuk and his brother had returned to Spain, both joining the academy of Barcelona.

International career

Though born in Spain, Żuk is also eligible to represent his parents' native Poland. During a November 2021 visit to the

Poland national football team The Poland national football team () represents Poland in men's international Association football, football competitions since their first match in 1921. It is governed by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), the governing body for football ...

's training, Żuk and his brother, Miłosz, discussed the possibility of representing Poland's youth international teams in the future with president of the Polish FA, Cezary Kulesza. In September 2023, he received call-ups to both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and Polish under-15 national teams, and chose to represent his country of birth. He made his debut for La Furia Roja's youth system on 2 October against Iceland.

Style of play

Noted for his superior technical ability, especially his exceptional ball control and excellent vision, Żuk has been compared to former Spanish great, and Barcelona legend,

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...

. As with most talented dribblers to come out of Barcelona's youth academy in recent years, he has also been compared to Argentine football legend

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

Personal life

Family

Żuk's brother, Miłosz, is also a footballer, who plays for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

as well. Their both parents are Polish Citizens who live in Spain.

Sponsorship

In 2018, Żuk signed a sponsorship deal with German company

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

. In doing so, he became one of the youngest athletes to have signed a deal with the sporting goods manufacturer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuk, Michal 2009 births Living people Footballers from Girona Spanish people of Polish descent Men's association football midfielders Spanish men's footballers Polish men's footballers Spain men's youth international footballers FC Barcelona players Pogoń Szczecin players 21st-century Polish sportsmen 21st-century Spanish sportsmen