Birthdays Boys- Piotr Zielinski and Gerson

Today’s edition of the Birthday Boys explores the careers of Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski and Brazillian player Gerson.

Piotr Zielinski

The Polish midfielder turns 26 today and he’s had a great career so far for club and country. Let’s have a look how his career has panned out so far.

Zielinski made it through the ranks at Zaglebie Lublin but, never reached the first team. He only got as far as reaching the B team in 2010.

In July 2011, Udinese’s U19’s signed Zielinski for £100,000. The midfielder made 12 appearances for the U19’s that season scoring two goals.

Zielnski the made the step-up to first team football for Udinese for the 12/13 season. He continued to perform for the U19’s also making 12 appearances scoring seven goals but, he made nine first-team appearances getting two assists in the process.

The 13/14 season saw the midfielder play 12 times for Udinese’s first team contributing to no goals but, this was valuable first-team experience for the still young Zielinski.

On transfer deadline day of the summer window in 2014, the midfielder was loaned out on a two-year loan to the Tusan side, Empoli.

It was there that his numbers blossomed. The midfielder played 66 times for Empoli in the two season that he was at the club scoring five goals and getting seven assists. Zielinski gained even more Serie A experience from this loan spell and came back to Udinese sharper than ever.

In August 2016, Napoli took Zielinski off of Udinese’s hands and a £15 million offer was accepted by Udinese seeing Zielinski move to Naples.

His first season in southern Italy saw him feature 47 times for the club in a single season scoring six goals and assisting six times.

The 17/18 season saw him play more than 40 times once more, as he featured 47 times yet again similar to the previous season. The midfielder improved his goal touch, scoring seven that season but he assisted less with Zielinski only recording one assist that season.

He appeared 49 times in the 18/19 season, his highest single season total of his career. He scored seven goals and got two assists in the process. The 19/20 season sees him currently sit on 35 appearances, two goals and five assists.

On the international stage, Zielinski has made 51 appearances for the Polish National Team scoring six goals in that time. He went to represent Poland in Euro 2016 and in the 2018 World Cup/

Gerson

The Brazillian midfielder turns 23 and has a rollercoaster of a career moving from Brazil to Italy and then back to Brazil.

Gerson came through the ranks at Fluminense and got his breakthrough in December 2014 signing his professional contract for the club.

In 2015,  the midfielder made 29 appearances for the Brazillian club scoring on one occasion and assisting four times. The next year he made two appearances but had a few European teams trying to get their hands on the player.

In July 2016, Roma signed the midfielder for £18 million and looked certain to have got their hands on a gem. He played 42 times in the two seasons in the capital but looked out of the depths and was off-loaded to Fiorentina on loan.

40 appearances, three goals and four assists showed that Gerson’s style was not suited for the Serie A and upon return to Roma he was off-loaded back to Brazil, this time for Flamengo who paid £11 million for the midfielder.

In the two years he has been back in Brazil, the midfielder has made 41 appearances scoring four goals and assisting four times.

He’s yet to make his senior debut for Brazil and has made ten appearances for Brazil’s U20’s team.

Gerson is a Copa Libertadores champion, a Recopa Sudamericana winner and a Brazillian champion all with Flamengo in the last two years.

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