Arsenal eye Warsaw raid
-
Reports from Germany suggest Hertha Berlin have lost the race for PolandÂ’s highly-rated goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who is believed to be heading for Arsenal.
The 22-year-old Legia Warsaw shot-stopper had been regarded as hot favourite to succeed struggling Hertha keeper Christian Fiedler after the youngster impressed scout Rudi Wojtowicz on several occasions, but the Old Lady have reportedly been out-priced by a bid from Arsenal.
According to Kicker, Arsenal have tabled a €3million (£2million) offer for the keeper, which is expected to beat Hertha’s official bid.
Kicker claims that Arsene Wenger regards Fabianski as the ideal candidate to challenge current understudy Manuel Almunia for the No.1 shirt, should Jens Lehmann decide to leave the Emirates Stadium in 2008.
The 37-year-old Germany international has just signed a one-year contract extension with Arsenal, but could be tempted to hang up his gloves following Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
Fabianski, a member of PolandÂ’s World Cup squad last summer, is regarded as one of the brightest young keepers in Eastern Europe.
Yay!
-
good... a replacement...
-
Let's hope he's not another Almunia.
Cheers.
CK -
Fabianski deal 'already done'
Former Legia Warsaw coach Dariusz Kubicki believes Lukasz Fabianski's move to Arsenal is "already done".
The website confirmed on Wednesday that the 22-year-old goalkeeper was close to joining The Gunners after undergoing a medical in London.
Kubicki is confident Fabianski will soon become an Arsenal player after snubbing interest from Germany to move to the Premiership.
Asked when he expected the deal to be completed, Kubicki told the website: "I think it's already done. What I know is this transfer is definitely going through.
"It's a great chance for him. A lot of polish players dream about playing in the Premier League.
"He had some other options with big clubs in Germany but the offer which Arsene Wenger gave him probably was the best and not the financial side of the offer but the prospect of playing for a big club, maybe not yet but in a season or so."
Fabianski, a member of Poland's 2006 World Cup squad, was expected to feature for Legia Warsaw on Wednesday evening.
However, he was only on the bench, further fuelling talk that a move to Emirates Stadium is edging nearer.
"Last night Legia Warsaw played a game against Gornik Leczna and Lukasz was only on the bench because the club wanted to check his substitute Jan Mucha will be able to fill his place," Kubicki explained.
Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia are likely to begin next season ahead of Fabianski in the pecking order, but Kubicki does not expect the young shot-stopper to take too long breaking into the first-team.
"When he came to Legia Warsaw he was the second keeper behind Artur Boruc and it didn't take him long (to become number one)," he said.
"He's prepared to wait for his chance and when he gets it I'm sure he will take it with both hands."
Kubicki is also expecting Fabianski to become his country's number one in the not too distant future.
He added: "He's probably on a similar level (to Tomasz Kuszczak and Boruc) but he's five or four years younger than them and that's an advantage." -
tot they were gonna get jugen macho...