After a loan and long transfer saga, Karol Swiderski looks set to stay at Charlotte FC

With an option for a permanent transfer set to expire following a loan to Italy, it appears forward Karol Swiderski is set to return to Charlotte FC and enter first-year head coach Dean Smith’s plans for the latter half of the club’s MLS season.

The Polish forward is the club’s all-time leading goalscorer. He scored 25 goals and added 13 assists in 70 appearances across all competitions with Charlotte FC after joining the club ahead of its inaugural campaign.

The fan favorite, who has consistently ranked among the league’s top selling jerseys, could help boost a Charlotte attack that’s scored just 23 goals in 20 games. He will fill one of the club’s two open designated player spots barring a change in plans.

“He decided he wanted to go and pursue Europe and we were happy for him to go and do that,” Smith said on Thursday. “It’s not happened at the moment for him to join anyone so he’s coming back and as I say, we want good players at the club. I believe he’s a good player. As long as he comes back and his attitude and application are top like it was before he left, then not a problem.”

Smith said Swiderski will be back at the training facility on July 8 when the team resumes practices after its matchup against Inter Miami on July 3. His loan to Hellas Verona officially ends on June 30 and his European Championships journey with Poland came to a close on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw with France, in which he drew a penalty kick.

“I will speak to him, I haven’t spoken to him yet. It’ll be a little bit raw, I think for him going out of the Euros at the moment, so I’ll let that die down a little bit and then get in touch with him,” Smith said. “We’ve been in touch with him through third parties in terms of sorting out the timing for when he comes back.”

Swiderski can’t play for Charlotte FC until July 18 despite the loan expiring at the end of June, because the club can’t register him until the beginning of the MLS summer transfer window. The first game he’d be available for is on July 20 at Austin FC.

Charlotte FC loaned Swiderski to Serie A side Hellas Verona in February, with GM Zoran Krneta saying that the club did not want to stand in the way of the striker’s intention to pursue an opportunity in Europe in a release. His loan at the Italian club is set to expire without it triggering an option to purchase the forward.

“Verona made an offer that we rejected, because the original agreement was one and they wanted to change the goalposts and we rejected it,” Krneta told WFNZ on June 14. “So it’s very much open market. We will obviously listen to Karol’s vision, but we also will make plans for if he wants to be back for the club.”

Charlotte FC gave Swiderski’s No. 11 jersey to winger Liel Abada, who they signed from Celtic in March, after loaning him to Hellas Verona. Smith said Swiderski trained at the club for a few week’s under the new coach before leaving for Italy and that he believes the forward would be able to quickly acclimate into the team again.

The coach said Swiderski can play at striker, attacking midfielder or on the wings and that he’d still like to use Charlotte FC’s final designated player spot on an out-and-out striker. Smith also said that the club has been preparing for the upcoming transfer window with the possibility of Swiderski’s return in mind.

“I think we need a nine at the club,” Smith said. “I want a natural goal scorer who is gonna go and compete with the others.”

There remains the possibility of a club swooping in and placing an acceptable offer for Swiderski with the European transfer window opening shortly, but Smith and Charlotte FC seem prepared to utilize the Polish international and reintegrate him into their plans.

“When (the transfer window) opens he’s available to play for us and whether there’s talks still going on, that’s down to his representatives and not me,” Smith said. “I’ll just see him as a player for our first team and if I see he’s better than what we’ve got, then he’ll be in.”