Michał Ryszard Żewłakow (; born 22 April 1976) is a Polish football executive, pundit and former professional player who played as a defender. He was most recently the sporting director of Ekstraklasa club Legia Warsaw.
Żewłakow earned 102 caps for the Poland national team during a 13-year international career, served as captain from 2006, and represented his country at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, as well as the UEFA Euro 2008, Poland's first appearance at the UEFA European Championship. He is Poland's third most capped player ever. Besides Poland, he has played in Belgium, Greece, and Turkey.
Club career Early career in Poland Born in Warsaw in April 1976, Żewłakow spent eight years with Polonia Warsaw and broke into the first team in the 1996–97 season.
Belgium Żewłakow moved to Belgian side KSK Beveren in October 1998 before signing – together with his twin brother Marcin – for Mouscron for a combined fee of €485,000 the following year. Żewłakow went on to become a key player, helping the club reach the 2002 Belgian Cup final.
Anderlecht After following coach Hugo Broos to Anderlecht, in his second season he made his UEFA Champions League debut as Anderlecht wrested back the league title from Club Brugge. The next season, he lost his place but regained it for the 2005–06 campaign as Anderlecht won the league again.
Olympiacos In the summer 2006, Żewłakow moved to Super League Greece club Olympiacos on a free transfer.Michał Żewłakow w Olympiakosie 1 February 2006, interia.plŻewłakow: W Grecji uciekałem przed kibicami sport.fakt.pl
Ankaragücü At the end of the 2009–10 season, after reportedly receiving a low contract offer from Olympiacos, Żewłakow decided not to renew his contract. On 16 June 2010, Turkish club Ankaragücü signed him on a free transfer.Doppio colpo per l’Ankaragücü
Legia Warsaw In June 2011, Żewłakow joined Polish club Legia Warsaw on a one-year contract. 13 June 2011, onet.pl
International career The Poland national team's first-choice left-back during qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Żewłakow was the only player to appear in all ten of his country's qualifying matches. He played in two games at the 2002 World Cup and was a regular in qualifying for UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, where he again appeared three times in the finals in Germany.
Post-playing career Immediately after retiring at the end of the 2012–13 season, Żewłakow joined Legia Warsaw's executive staff as head of the scouting department, before being appointed sporting director in 2015.
Responsible for Legia's transfer activity, he oversaw the signings of Kasper Hämäläinen, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, Thibault Moulin, Krzysztof Mączyński, returns of Miroslav Radović, Artur Jędrzejczyk and Iñaki Astiz, among others. He left Legia on 13 September 2017, having helped win two league titles, one national cup and reach the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League group stage.
In June 2018, Żewłakow was appointed sporting director of fellow Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin, where he supervised the signings of players such as Damjan Bohar, Patryk Szysz, Saša Živec, and the appointment of Martin Ševela as manager. He left his post at the end of 2019.
On 19 August 2020, he joined Canal+ Sport's coverage team as a pundit and co-commentator.
On 3 November 2020, Żewłakow was announced as the new sporting director of II liga side Motor Lublin, a role he would hold concurrently with his position at Canal+. He left the club by mutual consent on 8 November 2021.
On 27 March 2025, Legia Warsaw confirmed that Żewłakow would be returning to the role of sporting director at the club, on a deal until the end of the 2026–27 season. He occupied this post until 25 May 2026.
Personal life Michał Żewłakow has a twin brother, Marcin, who played as a striker. They became the first twins ever to play together for Poland when they were picked in the starting lineup to face France in February 2000 and were teammates at the 2002 World Cup.
His son, Jakub, is also a professional footballer, who plays for Legia Warsaw.
Career statistics International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsPoland19991020001002001101200290200360200480200580200611020071112008101200990201080201110Total1023
Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Żewłakow goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Michał ŻewłakowNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 28 March 2001 Polish Army Stadium, Warsaw, Poland 1–0 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification2 7 February 2007 Estadio Municipal de Chapín, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain 1–2 2–2 Friendly 3 6 September 2008 Oporowska Stadium, Wrocław, Poland 1–0 1–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours Anderlecht Belgian Pro League: 2003–04, 2005–06
Olympiacos Super League Greece: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 Greek Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 Greek Super Cup: 2007
Legia Warsaw Ekstraklasa: 2012–13 Polish Cup: 2011–12, 2012–13
Individual Polish Newcomer of the Year: 2000
See also List of footballers with 100 or more caps
References
External links
National team stats on the website of the Polish Football Association