Kacper Kozłowski

Kacper Szymon Kozłowski (born 16 October 2003) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Gaziantep and the Poland national team.

Club career

Kozłowski started his career with Pogoń Szczecin. In January 2022, he transferred to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion for a reported fee of £8,000,000, where he was immediately loaned to Brighton's sister club Union SG of Belgian First Division A for the rest of the season.

In August 2022, Kozłowski joined Vitesse in the Netherlands on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. On 18 July 2023, he rejoined Vitesse on another season-long loan spell.

On 19 July 2024, Kozłowski left Brighton to join Turkish club Gaziantep permanently for an undisclosed fee.

International career On 28 March 2021, Kozłowski debuted for the Polish senior team in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Andorra, which ended in a 3–0 victory for the Poles. At the age of 17 years and 163 days, he became the second youngest Polish international debutant behind Włodzimierz Lubański, who debuted at the age of 16 years and 188 days. In a 1–1 draw against Spain on 20 June 2021, he became the youngest footballer of any nationality to play at a European Championship – aged 17 years and 246 days – breaking the previous record of Jude Bellingham, who had broken the same record only six days prior. He kept the record until 2024, when Lamine Yamal debuted at the European Championship at 16 years and 338 days.

Kozłowski was named in the provisional squad for Poland for the 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign, but he was not included in the final 26-man squad.

Personal life On 10 January 2020, Kozłowski suffered a traffic accident that almost ended his football career. Whilst on his way to training for Pogon Szczecin with two of his teammates, their car was involved in a crash. Suffering the most severe injuries of the three, Kozłowski had broken his pelvis and broke three vertebrae in his lower back. Despite the near life-ending and career-threatening injury, he eventually recovered and returned to football. Speaking to Goal in 2021 about the accident, he said: "I couldn't train for almost half a year. It was a difficult time, but I focus on the here and now, not the past" and stated that the experience might help him mentally in the future having gone through it.

In the 2022 NXGN 50, Kozłowski was ranked as the 19th best football wonderkid.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Individual Polish Newcomer of the Year: 2021 Ekstraklasa Young Player of the Month: December 2020 NXGN (19th of 50): 2022