Arsenal: Is Krystian Bielik another of the unfortunate army?

Arsenal dumped expectations on Krystian Bielik when they signed him, but he has since pulled up lame. Is he another member of a sad club?

Arsenal’s capture of Krystian Bielik made me more excited than most senior signings. They made three offers for the lad, raising their offer each time. It was clear that Arsene Wenger saw something he simply had to have in the young Pole.

They finally got him and he, alongside Jeff Reine-Adelaide, shot up the charts and started to threaten the first team. He made his first big impact against Sheffield Wednesday in that awful match where he came on at the hour mark.

For the final half hour – as a midfielder, mind you – he was simply fantastic. He refused to accept the fate of the club and, although it was all meaningless, his showing was not.

Since then he has been moved to central defense, shown tremendous potential there, in addition to in the midfield, and has proceeded to hit the wall. Now 20-years-old, Bielik is behind the eight-ball and already missing out on crucial time.

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Bielik had been sent on loan to Walsall, but a series of injuries have landed him back with the Gunners with no game time to his name (via the Express & Star). With defensive questions likely being answered this summer, Bielik may find himself in a dead zone, another member of the unfortunate young club that is becoming an army – this collection of players who suffer injuries at crucial periods.

Recently, Reine-Adelaide and Gedion Zelalem have been the main members. Zelalem was highly-touted, but just at the moment of his reckoning, he suffered an ACL tear and missed the entire year.

And Reine-Adelaide is no different. He was praised as “unlike his age” when he first arrived at 17, but has since fallen out of favor thanks to injuries that allowed players like Reiss Nelson to sneak in front of him.

Bielik will have to hit the reset button this summer. He was supposed to be part of the young three-headed monster alongside Calum Chambers and Rob Holding, but that’s looking likely to pass to someone else, as Bielik will have to find his footing again before he enters the first team picture.

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The good news is he is only 20. He may be hitting on hard times now, but there is no reason he can’t find his way again, if not over the summer, than certainly by time he is 21 and, at the absolute latest, 22.

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