What happened to Grzegorz Krychowiak?

In 2016 when he signed for PSG, Grzegorz Krychowiak had everything right. French-speaking nursed in Ligue 1 (Bordeaux, Reims, Nantes), best interceptor in Europe with Sevilla the previous season, duty player and base of Unai Emery who then brought him in his luggage… But the promises were quickly fulfilled swept away. In the capital, the Pole never managed to outline the great achievements of his Andalusian years, and above all, to take over from Thiago Motta whose successor he was designated. Seven years after his transfer, it’s difficult to remember a glorious moment from Krychowiak in the colors of PSG. If we had to remember one moment, Parisian supporters would probably cite this nasty double error against Arsenal in the Champions League, which led to Giroud’s equalizer.

However, after just one year at PSG, but which would be worth five elsewhere given the mental bankruptcy caused by the traumatic Remontada, Krychowiak was able to find color again. First by winning at West Brom in the Premier League, a way of reminding us that his qualities had not suddenly vanished, then at Lokomotiv Moscow, by stringing together three high-level seasons between 2018 and 2021. Happy in Russia where he quickly established himself as one of the best players in the championship, the Pole then moved to Krasnodar Krai, before continuing his European tour at AEK Athens due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Today, it is in the Gulf that the former PSG player now takes up residence.

He also took the turn towards Saudi Arabia

If the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo has necessarily highlighted the Saudi championship since January, Krychowiak was one of these avant-garde arrivals a few months earlier. At Al-Shabab, his tenth club in his career (he was on loan there), he was notably able to reunite with old acquaintances like Éver Banega, another member of the great Sevilla team (they won two C3 together there). in 2015 and 2016). If he left the spotlight for discretion in his club life, Krychowiak also made the decision to stop with the White Eagles to take a breather. Fifth most capped player in Polish history, the ex-Parisian communicated his choice in September after reaching the symbolic milestone of 100 caps, during a defeat against Albania (2-0).

This summer, he also gave a boost to his career by freely joining the Abha club, still in Saudi Arabia. An experience that quickly turned sour. In a few months, Krychowiak experienced the big gap from a 4th place with Al-Shabab to a maintenance far from being obtained with Abha (17th). Alongside Karl Toko-Ekambi, François Kamano and Ciprian Tatarusanu, the 33-year-old hasn’t won for almost two months and continues to lose (7-0 against Al-Hilal, 6-0 against Al-Ahli …). However, it is like one of the rare beams of light from an oh-so-failing collective. This season, his winning goal against his former club Al-Shabab (3-2), his opening goal against Al Akhdoud (3-2) and his equalizer against Al Hazem (1-1) have thus allowing Abha to collect 7 points, half of their mid-season total. Under contract until 2024 with the Saudi club, it remains difficult to imagine seeing Krychowiak stay in the event of a descent. In recent weeks, moreover, Mundo Deportivo cited him among the players targeted by Barça in its free player operation. He knows Barça very well, even more so since March 8, 2017.