Kamil Mieczysław Grabara (born 8 January 1999) is a Polish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

and the Poland national team.

Club career

Early career

Grabara joined Liverpool ahead of the 2016–17 season from

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

for £250,000, and was promoted to the first-team squad for the 2018–19 season. He trained regularly with the first-team squad at

Melwood AXA Melwood Training Centre, in West Derby, Liverpool is the training ground and academy for Liverpool Football Club's Women's first team, youth teams and academy. It was formerly the men's first team's training ground from the 1950s until N ...

and made his maiden senior outing in a pre-season friendly against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

in July 2018. On 26 September 2018, Grabara was named on the substitutes' bench for the first time in Liverpool's 2–1

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

defeat to Chelsea at Anfield. On 6 January 2019, Grabara joined AGF on loan until the end of the season. On 15 July 2019, Grabara joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

on a season-long loan deal. At the end of September 2020, Grabara returned to Danish club AGF on loan for the 2020–21 season.

Copenhagen

On 3 July 2021, Grabara joined

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

on a permanent basis, signing a five-year deal with the Danish side. Following his performances for the club both in the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, in December 2022 Grabara received the "Goalkeeper of the Year" award from the local sports magazine

Tipsbladet ''Tipsbladet'' is a weekly sports magazine focusing on football which has been in circulation since 1948. It the oldest football magazine in Scandinavia and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Tipsbladet'' was founded ...

VfL Wolfsburg

On 6 September 2023,

club

announced the signing of Grabara on a long-term contract, starting from 1 July 2024, to replace the outgoing

Koen Casteels Koen Casteels (; born 25 June 1992) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah. Formed at Genk, Casteels spent most of his professional career in Germany with TSG Hoffenheim, Werder Breme ...

. The fee was reported to be approximately €13.5 million, with Wolfsburg holding an option to have Grabara join them in January 2024, but they did not activate the option.

International career

Grabara was a first choice goalkeeper for Poland U21 throughout most of his tenure with the squad, having made his debut against Denmark on 14 November 2017.

Senior

Grabara received his first call-up in the senior Polish national team for a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

(home of his best friend, Scott McKenna) and the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

playoff against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 24 and 29 March 2022, respectively. On 1 June 2022, he debuted as a starter in a 2–1 home

2022–23 UEFA Nations League The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League was the third season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from June to Se ...

victory against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. On 20 October 2022, Grabara was selected by manager

Czesław Michniewicz Czesław Michniewicz (; born 12 February 1970) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed Botola Pro side AS FAR. He managed the Poland national team in 2022. Managerial career Early years In Septemb ...

as part of the final squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, replacing

Bartłomiej Drągowski Bartłomiej Drągowski (; born 19 August 1997) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Super League Greece, Greek Super League club Panathinaikos F.C., Panathinaik ...

who got injured just before the tournament. Grabara did not make a single appearance during the tournament as Poland were eliminated in the round of 16 by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Style of play

Grabara is described as an allround goalkeeper, able to dominate the penalty area, pull off reflex saves, play out from the back and, as he develops, operate as a sweeper. He is often known, when play is in the opposition half, to recreate dances from Swan Lake in his own penalty area, such is his love of ballet.

Personal life

Grabara is from

Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a city in the Metropolis GZM, a metropolis with a population of two million. It is in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica River (tributary of the Oder). It h ...

, in Southern Poland. He was the second Polish goalkeeper for Liverpool, after the

2005 UEFA Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club Association football, football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpo ...

hero

Jerzy Dudek Jerzy Henryk Dudek (born 23 March 1973) is a Polish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. After beginning his career in his home country, he went on to have successful ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Copenhagen *

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

Individual * Danish Goalkeeper of the Year: 2022, 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the VfL Wolfsburg website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grabara, Kamil 1999 births Living people Footballers from Ruda Śląska Polish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Poland men's international footballers Poland men's under-21 international footballers Poland men's youth international footballers Ruch Chorzów players Liverpool F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players F.C. Copenhagen players VfL Wolfsburg players III liga players English Football League players Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Polish expatriate men's footballers Polish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Polish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 21st-century Polish sportsmen