Bundesliga
Blaszczykowski to play for Wisla Krakow for free
A polish player returning to his homeland at the age of 33 to wind down his career may not seem like news, but Jakub Blaszczykoswki's impending move to Wisla Krakow comes with a twist: the two-time Bundesliga champion will not take a salary, and has contributed a significant amount of his own money to help the club out of financial hardship.
"Kuba" made more than 50 appearances Wisla, helping them to the Polish Ekstraklasa title in 2005 before embarking on a wildly successful career in Germany which took in back-to-back Bundesliga titles under Jürgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund in 2011 and '12.
Poland's record appearance maker with 104 caps, Blaszczykowski was most recently with Wolfsburg before the player and his club parted ways by mutual consent over the winter break.
Far from retiring, Blaszczykowski has instead been training with Wisla, who are without a top-flight title since 2011 and have fallen on hard times of late. Blaszczykowski has contributed around 300,000 euros (around 345,000 dollars) of his own money to help the club pay out-standing wages, and will not pick up a salary himself.
Borussia Dortmund tweeted their appreciation of the 33-year-old's gesture. From affordable ticket prices, fan-owned clubs and social intervention programmes, the Bundesliga is the home of "football as it's meant to be," something Blaszczykowski seems to have taken to heart.