Krystian Bielik on his way to Norwich on loan next season

Krystian Bielik has confirmed he’ll spend next season on loan and revealed that talks are taking place with Norwich City.

The 19-year-old was sent to Birmingham City in January to continue his development and impressed as part of a back three as he continued his conversion from midfielder to defender.

The teenager was rewarded for his form with a first ever call-up to the Poland under-21 squad and is currently preparing for the European Championships to be played in his homeland.

Speaking to local press while on international duty he chatted about Arsene Wenger’s plans for him.

“I know the interest in me is heightened, but I’ve got used to it. Breaking into the Arsenal first team is not easy, especially at such a young age. After just a couple of months, it was going to be impossible to make a Premier League debut.

“The club brought me for the future. Everything seems to be going in the right direction. The loan at Birmingham was productive, next season I’ll go out on loan again so as to have the chance to play regularly.

“I’ve already talked to coach Wenger. After next season I’ll go back to Arsenal as a full member of the first team.

He added: I’ll probably play with Norwich on loan next season, talks are close to being completed. Certainly, I hope that after I go back to Arsenal on a permanent basis that I find myself in the first team and with a regular chance in the Premier League.

“When you change from youth or reserve team player to senior status, everything changes from a football point of view. You’re part of a small circle of the most important people at the club, it’s professionalism on a mega level.

“I hope everything goes my way. I’m sure it will, I know what I can do. Of course, there will be less games [if I’m in the first team] but the important thing is to stay consistently at a high level.”

He certainly seems like a level-headed kid. It’ll be interesting to see him when he comes up against Rob Holding and Calum Chambers on 22 June.

Good move for the kid. Norwich will be chasing promotion to the Premier League next season so he should have some decent competition for a place in the team. Has it in him to be a top player for us.

A season in the Championship at his age will be a good test and a good learning experience. I'd expect him to nail down a spot if he's going to make it here though. Given his versatility that shouldn't be beyond him.

Question for those who follow the loans closely - how does a season at the top of the Championship compare with one with a struggling relegation battling team in the Premiership (say Norwich and Boro)? Arguments both ways - people say the pressure at the sharp end is different, but of course the Premiership is a different quality. Which is a better loan for someone like Bielik?

I think its harder to establish yourself in a relegation team because managers tend to chop and change more. A relatively successful Championship team will be more settled. Bit more time on the ball in the Championship too compared to the Premiership. Ideally Norwich would be promoted with Bielik as a key player and they'd hold onto him for another year in the Prem. If not I'd be hoping for a Prem loan elsewhere next season.

9 days later

Takuma Asano will not get a work permit for next season and will continue with newly promoted Stuttgart in the Bundesliga next season.

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Good move for him, he has had a decent season out wide for Stuttgart.

Will be interesting to see how he does in Bundesliga. Gotta wonder why we loaned him out to Stuttgart to begin with though.

He didn't exactly tear it up in the Bundesliga 2 to be fair. I've read quite a few reports from different places and he struggled quite badly when he was first introduced to the team and slowly started to look more comfortable. Hopefully he's able to make the step up next season.

not setting the world alight when coming to a new league and culture is hardly a new thing. It says enough to me that a team that won promotion wants him back the following season for another loan. Stuttgart are hardly a small time club

That's why it seems like it was a pretty good club and level to get him regular playing time at to me.

I don't know Ricky, I reckon a lot of players would struggle if you put them in a lower division team in a country where they didn't know the language or the culture. Big European players flop regularly in the Chinese league, and I don't think a lack of motivation is the only reason for it. I just think we could have found something better for Asano. I can think of several loan moves that would have been more useful for his development. I feel the same way about Bielik at the moment. If we're serious about him then why loan a soon-to-be 20 year old to a Championship club?

We do this a lot, and the only instance I can think of where it paid off was Szczesny at Brentford.

I dont know if Bielik to Norwich is that bad of a loan. They are going to be in the top half and potentially going after promotion. Most Prem teams wouldnt give him much game time (IMO) so it would have really been a wasted loan if that would have been the case.

Plus, Asano is somewhat integrated into the Stuttgart team now - full season under his belt.. Bundesliga action/experience isnt a bad thing..

It's more about game experience and maturing a bit as a player..

Klaus wrote:

I don't know Ricky, I reckon a lot of players would struggle if you put them in a lower division team in a country where they didn't know the language or the culture. Big European players flop regularly in the Chinese league, and I don't think a lack of motivation is the only reason for it. I just think we could have found something better for Asano. I can think of several loan moves that would have been more useful for his development. I feel the same way about Bielik at the moment. If we're serious about him then why loan a soon-to-be 20 year old to a Championship club?

We do this a lot, and the only instance I can think of where it paid off was Szczesny at Brentford.

I see what you're saying we've done some loans to better clubs. Jack seemed to struggle a bit as the season went on eventually he was in and out of the team. Gnabry got not games. Maybe its loans that generally spell the beginning of the end no matter where they go. Unless a player is very young like shez was Brentford.

I think its different for attackers and defenders. Experience matters a lot more for centre halves IMO and even defensive mids.

2 months later

Bielik close to a 2 year loan to Frankfurt. Expecting Jones to report back on his progress every week now.

2 years? That's a strange deal, if ever there was one. I guess it's all a part of being Arsenal.

One of my colleagues is a huge Frankfurt fan. If this goes through I'll ask him for weekly updates!

We probably want them to invest time in him and if he's only there short term they're not going to give him 10 games to settle into the team. But 2 years he can be a part of the team. A

FEBravo wrote:

One of my colleagues is a huge Frankfurt fan. If this goes through I'll ask him for weekly updates!

we could always ask jones about him! 

afcstuff saying this is dead though: 

Two years? They must rate him highly. Guess they trumped Norwich.