AS Roma are eyeing a permanent deal for Wojciech Szczesny, who is on loan at the Serie A club from Arsenal, once his spell ends at the end of the season
Corriere dello Sport have reported that AS Roma are interested in sealing a permanent deal for on-loan goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, but will have to shell out €16 million to Arsenal in order to secure the services of the Pole.
Wojciech Szczesny was one of the most highly rated young goalkeepers in Europe when he joined Arsenal in the summer of 2006 as a 16-year-old. Joining the North Londoners’ youth setup, Szczesny made rapid strides to progress to the club’s reserve side in little over two seasons.
By the 2011/12 season, Szczesny had firmly established himself as Arsenal’s first-choice custodian, two years after Arsene Wenger had pinned high hopes on the Poland international to be a great goalkeeper in the future.
Thereafter, Szczesny became one of the key figures for Arsene Wenger as he consistently turned in impressive performances in the goal for Arsenal, and won back-to-back FA Cup titles in 2014 and 2015.
However, the 2014/15 season was one to forget for Szczesny, as bad form coupled with disciplinary issues saw him being disposed from the Arsenal starting lineup by David Ospina. And Petr Cech’s arrival at the Emirates Stadium saw Szczesny leave the club, as he was loaned out to Serie A side AS Roma.
Szczesny is in his second season-long loan spell at the Stadio Olimpico, and after initial skepticism he has firmly established himself as a fan-favourite thanks to solid performances for the I Giallorossi. He has already made 52 appearances and is Luciano Spalletti’s first choice ahead of summer acquisition Alisson.
The Pole has not missed a single Serie A game this season, and his efforts have seen Roma concede just two goals in their last five games, boasting of the second best defensive record in Italian top flight.
The report from Corriere dello Sport also says that Roma want to make Szczesny’s stay at the Stadio Olimpico permanent, but face a sizable task of securing a permanent deal from Arsenal as the Gunners could demand a fee of at least €16 million.
Having said that, with Szczesny impressing during his loan spell with AS Roma so far, Arsenal might not be open to selling the Pole and could draft him back into the first team setup come next season.
