ISL 2021-22: Chennaiyin FC sign former QPR midfielder Ariel Borysiuk

Chennaiyin FC have signed Polish midfielder Ariel Borysiuk for the 2021-22 Indian Super League (ISL) season.

Besides the experience of playing for FC Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga for one of the three seasons with the German side, Borysiuk mostly plied his professional senior club career in the Polish top division.

Where all did Ariel Borysiuk play?

He was last at Polish outfit Jagiellonia Bialystok where he clocked over 1,300 minutes over two seasons. On the international stage, Borysiuk turned up for various Poland junior teams, featuring in the UEFA U-19 and U-21 Championship finals. He made his senior national team debut in 2010 during the 2014 FIFA World Cup European qualifiers.

Among majority of his club career that the defensive midfielder spent in the Ekstraklasa - Poland's top division league - he had multiple spells with Legia Warsaw and Lechia Gdańsk.

Among his previous foreign exploits, Brysiuk made 12 appearances in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the 2011-12 season and was later loaned from the 1. FC Kaiserslautern II side to Russian Premier League outfit Volga, besides a spell at Queens Park Rangers in the Championship 2016-17 from where he returned to Poland with Lechia Gdańsk and Wisła Płock before a season with Moldovan National Division side Sheriff Tiraspol.

Who are the other foreign signings at Chennaiyin FC?

Chennaiyin FC have roped in Serbian defender Slavko Damjanovic and Kyrgyz forward Mirlan Murzaev.

Murzaev scored four goals in the last two matches with his national team's 2022 World Cup qualification games in June, including a hat-trick against Myamar. He was part of the Kyrgyz squad that finished second in the third round of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers wherein India topped Group A and where Murzaev had scored against India.

Like Brysiuk, Damjanovic also has experience of playing in the Europa League with Montenegrin side Buducnost. Brysiuk represented Legia Warsaw at the Europa League in three seasons between 2008 and 2011, as also with Sheriff in the European competition in the 2019-20 season.

ISL

Other than that, Brazilian midfielder Rafael Crivellaro is the only foreigner to continue with two-time ISL champions from last season. He suffered an ankle injury in the game against ATK Mohun Bagan that kept him out of action for nearly half the term. Crivellaro raked seven goals and eight assists in the 2019-20 season when Chennaiyin finished as runners-up. 

What was said of the Ariel Borysiuk signing?

Commenting on the signing, Chennaiyin FC co-owner Vita Dani said, "We are delighted to bring in someone as experienced and well-travelled as Ariel [Borysiuk]. This is a real positive signing for us and our vision this season."

"There’s not much to say about Ariel [Borysiuk]. He has operated at such a high level for all his career. It’s a great signing," Chennaiyin head coach Bozidar Bandovic added.

Speaking after putting pen to paper to join the two-time ISL champions, Bandovic stated, "I am very excited about joining the club. It's a new experience for me to play outside of Europe and I'm looking forward to it.  I promise that I will do my best so that we can have wonderful moments together."