“Dawid played and fought his duels well”

SV Werder certainly expected more of Kownacki after he signed, with the forward only playing 364 Bundesliga minutes last season. At the same time, the seven-time Poland international himself is hoping for more playing time in the future. “Dawid has been with us for a year now, and had his opportunities mainly during the first third of last season, but perhaps was also a bit unlucky with the timing of his appearances,” said Werner. “A new season is also a new start. On a basic level, we still believe in his abilities like before, otherwise we wouldn’t have signed him a year ago.”

His performance in the second friendly in Zillertal was also a first step towards inking himself into the coaching staff’s plans. “David played well,” said Werner to journalists in the mixed zone. “He fought his duels, played physically and had some good ideas.”

At the very least, Kownacki has by no means been written off for the Green-Whites. “It’s been discussed that we’ll look at preseason performance. Dawid will see what opportunities arise for him and then we’ll judge how things are going,” said Werner. “He’ll be with us for now, is training completely normally and then we’ll assess what the situation is in terms of competition for places.”