DONE DEAL: Spurs Women sign Nikola Karczewska after a prolific season at FC Fleury 91

It’s the question we’ve been asking all summer–where are we going to get the goals? Hopefully we have our answer in 22 year old Polish striker Nikola Karczewska. Tottenham Hotspur Women have signed Karczewska on a two year deal with the option to extend a further year.

Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Karczewska is a true striker who stands out for her recent goalscoring record. She put away 10 goals in 24 games with Fleury last season, only one of which was a penalty. She’s also been scoring for Poland–notably 6 in one game against Armenia, and 1 against Norway (yes, we now know Norway has a shaky defense… I’m not going to let that ruin the day). Before that, she helped her Polish team Gornic Leczna qualify for the Champions league, and scored against European sides like Split.

“Niki is an exciting addition who will strengthen our forward line,” said Rehanne Skinner. “Her performances in France and Poland over the last two years show how capable she is in front of goal, and we are looking forward to helping her push on in the WSL. She’s very determined with a great attitude.”

Personally, I’m pretty excited to see what Rehanne can do with her. Nikola is still quite young at only 22, and while she has developing left to do, there’s already plenty of upside. She does a lot of things you want your striker to do–scoring with both feet (though more with her right than her left), holding the ball up, and popping up in the box at the right moment to finish off chances. She’s also 6’0” and pretty physically dominant. While she didn’t score any headed goals last year, she did win her aerial duels which makes me think she could still add more of an aerial threat to her game.

You may not have heard of her, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be excited. Here are some compilations you can watch to get hyped.

Nikola scoring goals, but she gets better the longer you watch:

Nikola being physically dominant and retaining the ball against PSG in 2020:

Obviously, there’s a lot that compilations don’t show. We won’t know for sure what we’re getting in Karczewska until we see her on the pitch. She’ll have to adapt to the FAWSL and Rehanne Skinner’s coaching, but I see no reason to think that won’t happen. In the meantime, I’m just looking forward to our first glance at her in Louisville .