Krystian Bielik: Birmingham City's on-loan Derby County midfielder keeping options open
- Published
Krystian Bielik is currently in his second spell with Birmingham City, having joined during the second half of the 2016-17 campaign from Arsenal
On-loan Birmingham City midfielder Krystian Bielik says he is "not closing any doors" over his future - including a potential return to St Andrews.
The 25-year-old Poland international is with Blues for the season from League One Derby County, where he has one year left on his contract.
Bielik has made 30 appearances this season and scored his first Blues goal in February's win against West Brom.
"This is a big club, let's see what happens in the summer," he said.
Bielik first moved to England from Legia Warsaw in January 2015 when he joined Premier League Arsenal for just under £2.5m.
His four and a half years with the Gunners brought two first-team appearances and three loan spells, including 10 games with Birmingham at the end of the 2016-17 season under Gianfranco Zola and then Harry Redknapp.
Bielik's permanent move to Derby ahead of the 2019-20 campaign has been hit by injury, with only 28 appearances for the Rams over the past two seasons because of a series of knee problems.
But after playing an important role in John Eustace's set-up this term, Bielik is enjoying life in Birmingham and did not rule the possibility of returning for a third stint.
"Yeah, I feel like it's home in England. The first time I was on loan here I was an 18-year-old kid, now I'm a grown man with more experience," he said.
"I have the last year at Derby and I need to sit down with my agent and the club and we'll see what happens. I'm not closing any doors, I'm looking forward to it."
Birmingham not had the 'respect we've deserved' - Bielik
With five games to go, Bielik helped Blues to the important psychological barrier of 50 points in Saturday's goalless draw with Stoke.
Despite the off-the-field turmoil the club has gone through this season over its ownership, Blues need four more points to reach their highest points tally since 2017.
Bielik says to be on course for that, after many tipped them for relegation in the summer, is an achievement.
"People said we were favourites for relegation and not good enough, but we've shown week by week it's a good team, we're solid," he told BBC Radio WM.
"We have some good young players and didn't get the respect we deserved. We're trying to beat the [points] record and I hope we can win a couple more."