Experts in Poland left frustrated by Napoli treatment of Zielinski

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ByPeter Young

Feb 6, 2024 18:53

Reporters in Poland have expressed their frustration around the current situation surrounding national team midfielder Piotr Zileinski and his relationship with Napoli.

Zielinski looks set to join Inter on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the season, but until then, the 29-year-old has been left in limbo and it appears unlikely he will return to regular first-team action before setting off for San Siro.

Last week, it was confirmed by the club that Zielinski had been left off Walter Mazzarri’s Champions League squad list for the second half of the 2023-24 campaign.

He has scarcely featured for the Partenopei since the turn of the new year, managing 18 minutes off the bench in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final, plus two appearances in Serie A, one as a starter against Lazio, plus 45 minutes against Torino before being subbed off at half-time.

Zielinski has also been struggling with muscular issues according to recent reports.

Now, Eleven Sports Poland correspondent Piotr Dumanowski has expressed his concern for the Poland national team with Zielinski’s current lack of regular game time.

Dumanowski also suggested that President Aurelio De Laurentiis could have kept Zielinski in Naples ‘without many problems’ had he truly wanted to.

“Zielinski won the title of Polish player of the year for the first time, and he deserved it after winning the Scudetto. But now, nobody in Poland understands his exclusion from the squad list,” Dumanowski said, reported by TMW.

“It was big news here, the Polish people are criticising De Laurentiis a lot now. In a month, our national team has a set of important matches to play and we need Zielinski to be ready and have consistency. The Euros are at stake.

“Zielinski being out of the Champions League and Serie A is very strange. We know that his last few months with Napoli have not been very good, but in Poland there are lots of Napoli fans who follow him and remember how important he was for the team and their league title.

“We know he is not at the top of his game at the moment, but he should still be on Napoli’s Champions League list. If De Laurentiis had really wanted to keep Zielinski in Naples, he could have done so without many problems.

“He didn’t present a good enough offer and now it’s too late.”