‘I will be honest, I had not heard a lot about West Brom’
Poland international Grzegorz Krychowiak explains swapping Paris for the Black Country
He has lifted the Europa League trophy twice, operated in the Champions League and moved to Paris St- Germain last year for £28 million. Juventus, AC Milan, Marseille and Zenit St Petersburg all made offers to sign him this summer, after his reunion with former Sevilla manager Unai Emery turned awry in the French capital.
So, with the greatest of respect to West Bromwich Albion, just what is Poland international Grzegorz Krychowiak doing in the Black Country?
“I will be honest, I had not heard a lot about West Brom before. The objective of the club is different than at PSG, I knew that,” he says, at Albion’s Palm Training Ground.
“I had opportunities in other countries with other clubs but the Premier League and the chance to discover this league was very important for me to make this decision. West Bromwich gave me this opportunity and I take a lot of pleasure to play here. I was very happy to sign. I think we can do something important this season.”
It still feels like one of the most eye-opening deals of the summer and a huge statement of intent from West Brom and Tony Pulis.
Even now, however, there are seasoned observers of European football who have followed Krychowiak’s career struggling to comprehend why he chose Albion, despite their proud history.
Indeed, Krychowiak’s loan move was described as the equivalent of placing a ballerina in a mosh pit or, to steal a quote from Steve Coogan’s old Paul Calf alter ego, like “mixing Pop Tarts with caviar”. West Brom are paying his £110,000-a-week wages in full, with no recall option for PSG in January.
But the 27-year-old has fully embraced life at the Hawthorns and there has never been a sense of a disillusioned player having to grudgingly accept a retrograde step in his career.
Days after the deal was confirmed, he surprised Albion’s coaching staff by demanding DVD’S of games from last season and their forthcoming opponents, spending hours studying at his Birmingham apartment to ensure he adapted quickly to English football. Five games in, he already looks like the player highly admired at Sevilla.
Liverpool supporters will probably remember him from the 3-1 defeat in the 2016 Europa League final, when he was arguably the best player.
“It is very different to Spain and PSG because there is a lot of possession of the ball and here it is more direct,” he says, in fine English [he speaks four other languages]. “It’s not a problem for me, it it’ss a new experience and I need to play like the coach wants.
“West Bromwich are in the top 10 places but from what I saw in the last few weeks, this team can be a lot better.
“I am a defensive midfielder but I think I can give more to the team offensively. The most important thing is to play, and [last season] I didn’t. I didn’t have a pre-season with PSG or play any friendly games and this is the big reason why I need a little bit more time.”
His future at Parc des Princes appears bleak, whatever happens at West Brom, and it is a genuine surprise it did not work out.
He played just one game in Ligue 1 this year after being given the deep-freeze treatment by Emery, who placed him as the focal point between defence and midfield at Sevilla.
This summer, Krychowiak was training away from the first team with a selection of other outcasts, including Hatem Ben Arfa, and left
‘I spoke with the PSG coach but every time I spoke, I felt deception’
at home for PSG’S tour of America. “I spoke with the coach about the situation but every time I spoke with him I felt deception. Did I feel they weren’t telling me the truth? Yes, exactly. I don’t understand why.
“The coach knows me very well. We spent two years together at Sevilla and before I signed the contract he told me to come to PSG – and I didn’t play. Now I am playing again and that is very important in a World Cup year.” Poland Poland’ss qualificationqualificati for Russia next year was co confirmed this week, with KrychowiakK playing in t the victories over Arme Armenia and Monteneg Montenegro.
He is partp of Poland’s latest golden generatio generation, along with reco record goalscorer Robert Lewandowski,Le and optimis optimism is building that this team can rival the achievementsachieveme of 1982 when theth country fini finished third in th the World C Cup. “We have an opportunity to make a big surprise,” he says. “We have to prove every game that we deserved to go to Russia, because it’s not going to be easy. We want to try and show to everyone that we have the capacity to do something big. This was another reason why I came to West Brom as I didn’t go for the two last games with Poland. I spoke with the coach [Adam Nawałka], he told me that it would be better that I find a club, then I will be back.”
Krychowiak is already feeling settled in the West Midlands where, incidentally, West Bromwich possesses the largest Polish community outside London. He is house-hunting with his girlfriend, Celia, and is already establishing a reputation on social media as something of a traveller.
On his Instagram account, he regularly posts pictures of European landmarks along with the hashtag #aroundtheworld to his 559,000 followers.
Recently he spent a day off visiting Oxford University, while, after Poland’s win over Montenegro last Sunday, he was in Budapest. Where next?
“You will have to look at my Instagram,” he smiles. “I have ideas in my head and it’s very nice to discover these kind of places. I like to travel a lot. I think this country has a lot to give and so I try to discover what I can.
“When we have a day off, I take the time to explore.”
Krychowiak’s next stop will be Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Monday, with the man known as “Greg” by Pulis and his team-mates aiming for his first win in English football.
“I think I can still do better. We didn’t win the last five games so it’s very important for us to win at Leicester. I’m not thinking about what will happen next summer, all I am concentrating on is West Bromwich.”
Albion supporters, it seems, have just got to enjoy the journey for the next seven months.