Łukasz Fabiański

Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club West Ham United.

Fabiański then was signed in the 2004–05 season by Lech Poznań.

In the winter of 2005, Fabiański was signed by Legia Warsaw, where he competed with Artur Boruc for a place in the team.

After Boruc was sold to Celtic, Fabiański took over as starting goalkeeper on 24 July 2005 in a match against Arka Gdynia, which ended 0–0.

The following season, he helped Legia win the 2005–06 Ekstraklasa.

He started all 30 matches of the campaign, in which he conceded 17 goals.

In the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, his performances led to him being awarded the "Football Oscar" for the best goalkeeper in the Ekstraklasa.

He also played for the Poland national team from 2006 until his retirement from international duties in 2021.

He was included in the squads for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2020.

Fabiański was born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Lubusz Voivodeship.

After starting his career with Polonia Słubice, Fabiański joined the noted independent football academy MSP Szamotuły at age 14, where he honed his footballing skills.

Having begun his career at Legia Warsaw, Fabiański joined Arsenal for £2.1 million in 2007, and was mainly used as back-up, but played as the club won the 2014 FA Cup Final.

On 8 May 2007, Fabiański underwent medical tests in London after Arsenal agreed a transfer fee with Legia Warsaw worth approximately £2.1 million.

The move was confirmed on 11 May 2007 by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.

Fabiański formally signed for Arsenal on 26 May with a long-term contract.

He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 League Cup win over Newcastle United on 25 September 2007.

His league debut followed later that season against Derby County.

In Fabiański's early Arsenal career, two of his most notable appearances came in the 5–1 defeat to rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007–08 League Cup semi-final and the first leg of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League second round match with Porto.

Fabiański received criticism for conceding soft goals in the Porto match as he scored an own goal and was blamed for the second goal after picking up a backpass from Sol Campbell, with Porto scoring from the resulting free-kick.

Fabiański played the last four matches for Arsenal in the 2009–10 season after top-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia suffered a wrist injury.

He was criticised for conceding soft goals in the defeats to Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers, but kept clean sheets in the matches at home to Manchester City and Fulham.

In January 2010, Arsène Wenger stated that Łukasz Fabiański could become one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

Fabiański started the 2010–11 season as Arsenal's second-choice goalkeeper.

On 21 September 2010, he made his first start of the season in a League Cup match against neighbours Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, which Arsenal won 4–1 after extra time.

Fabiański almost cost the match for Arsenal as he failed to stop Robbie Keane's long-range effort, despite getting a hand to the shot.

After the match, he revealed he was disappointed.

He had a solid match in his second match of the season replacing the injured Manuel Almunia one week later in a UEFA Champions League 3–1 away win against Partizan.

He saved Cléo's second penalty of the match in the second half to deny Partizan a lifeline.

He later turned Ivica Iliev's effort around the post from point-blank range just before the final whistle.

Arsène Wenger later commented that Fabiański had a "faultless" match and they finally saw the player who they usually see in training.

He kept his first clean sheet in a win over Manchester City, where he made many saves in a match that ended 3–0.

He was later named man of the match on an Arsenal.com poll after a brilliant display to keep Arsenal in the match.

After the City match, Wenger admitted he could well become the club's number one goalkeeper after impressive displays in the matches since the Partizan match.

On 7 November 2010, Fabiański was widely criticised for an error that lead to the only goal as Arsenal lost at home to Newcastle United.

However, he produced a strong display to keep a clean sheet in the next Premier League match, against Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which he managed to prevent a draw with a last-minute save, and then initiating a counter-attack with a long throw of the ball that led to another Arsenal goal.

After the Wolves match, Arsenal played Everton, where Fabiański received the man of the match award from Sky Sports.

Fabiański was injured for Arsenal's crucial match with Manchester United but returned for the equally important match with London rivals Chelsea, making many crucial saves in helping Arsenal to win 3–1.

On the expiration of his contract in 2014, he joined Swansea City, and played 150 total matches in four years.

He then signed for West Ham for £7 million.

A full international for Poland, Fabiański represented his country on 57 occasions.