Quick Facts
CapricornBiography
Bartosz Kapustka (born 23 December 1996) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Leicester City.
Club career
Leicester City
Kapustka was signed by Premier League club Leicester City for a reported £7.5m in August 2016, signing a five-year contract. He cited manager Claudio Ranieri as his motivation for joining the club. However, Kapustka did not receive any first team football for the first half of the 2016-17 season and was only named in two match day squads. Ranieri admitted he was unsure when Kapustka "will be ready to play in the Premier League". Having already played for the Leicester Under-23s, a loan move was not possible due to FIFA rules prohibiting a player from appearing for three clubs in one season.
Kapustka finally made his senior debut for Leicester in a 1–2 FA Cup third-round win at Everton on 7 January 2017, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Marc Albrighton. He made his full debut in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth-round replay win over Derby County on 8 February 2017, playing in a central attacking role behind striker Ahmed Musa. Kapustka made 47 touches and two interceptions before he was replaced by Riyad Mahrez in the 81st minute.
SC Freiburg (loan)
On 14 July 2017, Kapustka joined Bundesliga club SC Freiburg on loan for 2017–18 season. The Breisgau-based side secured an option to sign him permanently at the end of the season for a transfer fee of €5 million.
OH Leuven (loan)
On 31 August 2018, Kapustka joined Belgian First Division B club Oud-Heverlee Leuven on loan for 2018–19 season.
International career
On 7 September 2015, Kapustka made his debut appearance for the Poland national team in a match against Gibraltar, substituting Jakub Błaszczykowski. He scored his first goal for the national team on his debut. In the buildup to the Euro 2016, Kapustka was involved in a brawl outside a night club, in which he sustained an injury. Following the incident, he made a phone call personally to Polish national team manager Adam Nawałka, to ask for his forgiveness and ask that he not be excluded from the squad for the upcoming tournament. Kapustka was eventually selected for Poland's Euro 2016 campaign, and produced a standout performance in the team's opening match victory over Northern Ireland.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 23 May 2018
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cracovia | 2013–14 | Ekstraklasa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 26 | 3 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 35 | 5 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 60 | 6 | 5 | 2 | – | 0 | 0 | 65 | 8 | |||
| Leicester City | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Freiburg (loan) | 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Freiburg II (loan) | 2017–18 | Regionalliga Südwest | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career totals | 69 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 9 | ||
International goals
Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 September 2015 | Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland |  Gibraltar | 8–0 | 8–1 | Euro 2016 qualifying |
| 2. | 13 November 2015 | Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland |  Iceland | 2–1 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 3. | 4 September 2016 | Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan |  Kazakhstan | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2018 World Cup qualifying |