Krystian Bielik

In January 2015, at the age of 17 and after impressing in Legia Warsaw’s first-team set-up, Bielik joined Premier League side Arsenal for a reported fee of £2.4 million. Towards the end of 2015 he made his first appearance for Arsenal’s first team, coming off the bench in an EFL Cup tie at Sheffield Wednesday. While at Arsenal he was loaned to Birmingham City and Walsall, making ten appearances for Birmingham, while injuries limited his game time at Walsall in the second half of the 2017–18 season.⁠[1][1][1][1]

In the 2018–19 season Bielik played on loan for League One side Charlton Athletic, making 34 appearances in all competitions and scoring four goals; Charlton finished third in the league and came from behind to beat Sunderland 2–1 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium to win promotion to the Championship, with Bielik named man of the match.⁠[1][1][1]

Bielik represented Poland at various youth levels and was part of the Poland Under-21 side at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, scoring in victories over Italy and Belgium, although Poland did not get past the group stage.⁠[1][1]

On August 2, 2019, Championship side Derby County signed Bielik from Arsenal on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee; manager Phillip Cocu called it “a very good investment for the club.” He made 49 appearances for Derby, during which he recovered from two serious long-term knee injuries.⁠[1][1][2]

In June 2022 Bielik sustained a knee injury on international duty; on July 29 he joined Championship side Birmingham City on a season-long loan. On November 10 that year he was named in Poland’s squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, having won five senior caps, with Poland drawn in a group with Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina.⁠[3][3][3][2][2]

Bielik was a regular for Birmingham City throughout the 2022–23 season. On June 29, 2023, he completed a permanent move from Derby County to Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee.⁠[4][4]

On August 14, 2025, West Bromwich Albion signed the 27-year-old Bielik from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. By then he had made 129 Championship appearances and won 11 caps for Poland. Sporting director Andrew Nestor called him a seasoned and proven player in his prime years for a defender; Bielik said the Championship is one of the hardest leagues and that players must be prepared physically and mentally.⁠[5][5][5][5][5][5]

On March 3, 2026, The Venture RoomThe Venture RoomThe Venture Room is a UK entrepreneurial media brand centered on the YouTube channel @theventureroom. Through long-form interviews with founders and street interviews such as “Asking Millionaires How They Got Rich?”, it presents entrepreneurs’ stories and advice to aspiring business owners, and runs an entrepreneur community and brand partnerships.Open the full entry published a compilation of street interviews filmed in London’s Mayfair that included a segment with Bielik. He said on the show that, alongside playing football for West Brom, he invests in real estate in Poland and in renewable energy projects such as wind turbines and solar panels, mainly safe real estate, and that he has eight figures’ worth of business assets.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

“It’s a short career, so you have to invest money wisely just to protect yourself for the future.” He said this applies to every footballer (at 01:38 in the video).⁠[6]

“The natural energy back in Poland is the business that will be growing.” He said France, Germany, and the Netherlands have many wind turbines while Poland still has few, which is why he invests there, though this kind of business needs a good chunk of money to start (at 02:03 in the video).⁠[6][6][6]

West Bromwich Albion: Official website: https://www.wba.co.uk/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]