Arsenal: Krystian Bielik in the wrong place at the wrong time

Krystian Bieli was one of Arsenal’s most exciting prospects, but with the transition, he may just be a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I’ll still never forget the summer Arsene Wenger brought Krystian Bielik to Arsenal. I had never seen Wenger up a bid for anyone. He bid one price and, if rejected, left it behind. But for Bielik, he bid three times, with it finally accepted on the third try.

This immediately set a standard for the young Polish defender, which was re-upped when we first saw him in that horrifying loss to Sheffield Wednesday. Bielik was arguably our only positive performer in the middle of the pitch.

Since then, he’s gone on a loan to Charlton Athletic, where he put in one hell of a season, and now he feels like he’s ready to be considered in the first team. Which makes complete sense. He absolutely should be. He’s 21-years-old, he’s done the rounds and proven himself as a worthy addition to the first team.

But the Gunners don’t look as keen to hand him the opportunity as he is to take it. I don’t see that as any slight to his ability, though. More just a situational issue, of Bielik rising to fruition at a particularly inopportune time.

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The current state of this defense is a mess. There are about six guys all competing for roles, with more likely incoming. Rob Holding needs to be proving himself, as does Dinos, and they are further along in their progression than Bielik. Or at least they’ve been given more chances.

Calum Chambers is coming back and needs the time to prove himself and any incoming signings would likely be on the younger side and thus in need of time as well.

Bielik is immensely talented, but what he’s asking is to be counted among the mass of bodies already fighting for limited roles in a defense that may just need to be completely uprooted and restarted.

Not just that, but he plays the game very similar to Calum Chambers who, like I said, is much more proven and thus has a much more viable claim to the first team than Bielik.

If Bielik could just give it one more year in the U23s, with glimpses of the first team, this would all be a lot clearer and, come the summer of 2020, he would find a much friendlier situation for him to break in to.