6 forgotten ballers you had no idea are now playing in Poland: Pacheco, Samper… | OneFootball

Former Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal stars are among the players you (probably) had no idea are playing in the Polish Ekstraklasa in 2025-26.

Once a stepping stone for rising talents like Robert Lewandowski, the Ekstraklasa has quietly become a curious refuge for familiar names chasing minutes, memories, or one last career revival.

Here are six forgotten faces plying their trade out in the Polish top flight.

Ruben Vinagre

One of many Portuguese footballers who represented Wolves (note to self; we’ve definitely got to make that quiz) as they established themselves back in the Premier League.

He dropped off the mainstream radar some years back, loaned out three times in his latter years at Wolves and then four times away from Sporting Lisbon, briefly returning to these shores with forgettable stints at Everton and Hull City.

Vinagre won the Polish Cup on loan at Legia Warsaw last season and has since joined them on a permanent deal.

Sergi Samper

Once hailed as Sergio Busquets’ natural successor, La Masia graduate Samper hasn’t quite had the career many expected.

He made just one La Liga appearance for his boyhood Blaugrana and subsequently spent four years out in Japan, alongside Andres Iniesta, at Vissel Kobe.

In 2023, Samper returned to Spain to turn out for Gerard Pique-owned FC Andorra in the Spanish second tier. Now he’s into his second season with lesser-known Polish outfit Motor Lublin.

Dani Pacheco

Another one-time wonderkid of Spanish football, Pacheco spent six years developing his skills in Liverpool’s youth ranks but never made it beyond the fringes in the early FSG years.

The midfielder never really kicked on in early loans at Norwich City, Rayo Vallecano and Huesca, which set the tone for an eclectic journeyman career.

Pacheco has represented 13 different clubs, mostly in Spain, but is now in his second stint in Poland.

Last summer, he moved from Gornik Zabrze to Wisla Plock and helped them get promoted back to the Ekstraklasa via the play-offs.

Nazariy Rusyn

Not necessarily a household name, you might know the Ukrainian attacker if you’ve kept a keen eye on the Championship in recent years.

The Dynamo Kyiv academy graduate joined Sunderland in 2023, but he was on the periphery in last season’s play-off push, loaned out to Croatian giants Hajduk Split for the latter half of the campaign.

Rusyn remains on the Black Cats’ books but has been loaned out to Arka Gdynia for the 2025-26 campaign. With one Ekstraklasa goal so far, he’s already bettered his tally from the entirety of last season.

Benjamin Mendy

The former France international has faded away somewhat since his suspension by Manchester City, ongoing legal cases and employment tribunal against his former club.

Mendy returned to Ligue 1 in 2023, signing for Lorient, before spending a short-lived stint in the Swiss Super League side FC Zurich.

In September, he signed a one-year deal with Ekstraklasa club Pogon Szczecin.

Lukas Podolski

To be fair, Podolski is the one name you might actually be aware of who is playing out in Poland these days.

In the improbable event that ‘players that play in the Polish Ekstraklasa’ came up on Pointless, the former Arsenal and Germany cult hero is surely the name you’d plump for.

And yet we’re surprised that Poldi still hasn’t retired. It’s been a decade since he left Arsenal. Eight years since he left Galatasaray.

Seven years since he was surely inching towards a lovely life after football by opening up a kebab shop in Cologne.

No, after three years out in Japan, and another year back in the Turkish Super Lig, Podolski is now into his fifth Polish Ekstraklasa campaign with relative minnows Gornik Zabrze.