After completing his loan move to Italian club Roma, Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has asserted his determination to win some silverware with his new club.
He told the club’s website (asroma.it): “’I’ve come here to win matches and trophies with Roma and I think the team are strong enough to do that. I think there’s great potential here.”
He also added that he has already got to know some of his teammates and that he is “hoping to get settled here quickly”.
Szczesny has been Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper since the 2011-12 season where a series of convincing performances persuaded Arsene Wenger to take the plunge and regularly start the young ‘keeper. He had performed solidly for the Gunners in the seasons after, even being jointly awarded the Golden Glove for the 2013/14 season with new signing Petr Cech for keeping 16 clean sheets throughout the season.
However, a string of high profile errors in the recent Premier League season saw Szczesny relegated to the bench, in favour of Columbian shot stopper David Ospina. The Polish player’s low point came at a 2-0 defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day, where he was at fault for both goals and was reportedly caught smoking in the showers after the game. The new arrival of former Chelsea keeper Petr Cech has made it even harder to reclaim his position as first choice keeper for the north London club.
Despite Szczesny’s depature, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger still retains that he does have a future at the Emirates. Last week before the loan deal was confirmed he said: “I personally rate him highly – you do not take a boy and put him in the first team at the age of 20, he already has huge experience.
“I don’t want that experience at such a young age to be wasted.”
He also stated that the arrival of Cech could potentially be detrimental to the Polishman’s development. “How much can he grow with Petr Cech next to him, who is happy to share his huge experience, and how much mentally will he be able to live with the fact that he doesn’t play regularly?
“It is a position that, if you are number two or three, it is more difficult.”
A loan move to the Italian club is the best thing for Szczesny, he will most likely get a lot of playing time in a top league with a club that is challenging for trophies in a number of competitions. The pressure will be on, and hopefully he can learn a lot from it.
