Kownacki joins Sampdoria

Kownacki is a homegrown player of GKP Gorzow Wielkopolski. In 2005 he joined Lech Poznan Academy. He debuted a couple of months after he began training with the senior team. His first appearance for the first team took place in December 2013 against Wisla Cracow. That same season the youngster played in 13 matches. Kownacki scored his first goal just 3 months after his debut in a match against Pogon Szczecin that Lech lost 1:5.

“Dawid is immensely talented. The combination of talent, hard work and commitment helped him get as far as he is today – in Serie A. While representing Lech, Dawid showed that he incredibly skilled and can go very far. We hope that following his transfer he will keep on working hard and representing our club and the academy. He’s joining a club which has proved that it knows how to manage young talents, including Karol Linetty. Hopefully, it will be similar with Dawid,” said Piotr Rutkowski, Lech’s vice-chairman.

Sampdoria is a Serie A side. Last season the club was ranked 10th in the league rank. A year ago Karol Linetty joined Sampdoria. He’s already played in 38 matches for the Italian team, scored once, and assisted 5 times. In addition, the squad from Genoa includes the defender Bartosz Bereszynski.

Kownacki played in 117 matches for Lech. He scored 27 times and added 11 assists to his account. He won the Championship with the team from Poznan in 2015 and won the Polish Super Cup twice. He’s been competing for the youth national teams regularly and was called up by the senior national team coach. In June the forward played at Euro U21 where he scored a goal and added an assist against the Swedes.