Lukasz Fabianski is a man with a plan, even as his contract at Premier League underachievers West Ham United winds down.
The long-serving goalkeeper is one of four players who will leave the London Stadium when their contracts expire at the beginning of July.
Fabianski follows Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings out the door. West Ham United opting to move on from a trio who supplied a combined 23 years and over 750 appearances worth of loyal service. Oh, and a £12 million striker who has scored only five goals in 69 games.
It’s fair to say some will be missed more than others, even if captain Jarrod Bowen insists Danny Ings will be a ‘big loss’ considering the presence he offers. Albeit off the pitch rather than off it.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Lukasz Fabianski rejects Poland return as West Ham release looms
Coufal is keen to stay in England if possible, Fulham having expressed their interest in January.
Coufal’s son has now joined West Ham’s academy. Thus, making it even more likely that the Czech right-back will fight to keep his London home.
Cresswell still has a few years left in the tank.
As for Fabianski, while the former Arsenal and Swansea City glovesman celebrated his 40th birthday a few months ago, it appears that he is not quite at the stage yet where he would be happy to settle into a more comfortable environment before swapping his studs for slippers.
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Legia Warsaw contacted Fabianski about a return to Poland a few days ago, as confirmed by their sporting director Michal Zewkalow.
Fabianski actually won an Ekstraklasa title with Legia two decades ago before embarking upon his long career in English football. The 15-time Polish champions had hoped to see his career come full circle.
But, having initially failed to pick up the phone, Fabianski finally returned Zewkalow’s call this week. And it wasn’t the news the Legia Warsaw chief was hoping to receive.
“Lukasz called back two days after my call,” the sporting director now tells Sport. “He said clearly that he is not coming back to Poland.
“For private reasons, he wants to stay in England for a few more years.”
Now, any mathematicians out there will have figured out that ‘a few more years’ in England could see Fabianski turning out until his early or even mid-40s.
It remains to be seen whether any club is willing to come forward and offer him a contract, especially having lost his place to Alphonse Areola while making only 23 Premier League appearances across two seasons.
Perhaps there is a backseat role available to him, a la Tom Heaton at Manchester United or Scott Carson at Man City.
Though, as Fabianski told ESPN back in 2021, he has little interest in pursuing a career in coaching. When he hangs up his gloves, the curtain may also close on his footballing life as a whole.
“In all honesty, at this present moment, I wouldn’t want to say in football at the professional level,” Fabianski said, albeit only he knows whether hisfo mind has changed in the last four years.
“The thinking behind is basically, I’ve been away from home for almost 15 years, 16 years, something like that, away from my country. And actually, I would want to give back a little bit to my family because what they did was help me to focus on my career, and then they gave up so many things in their lives.”