Wojciech Szczęsny

On 24 August, Szczęsny made a vital penalty save in the 59th minute of play against Antonio Di Natale in the second leg of the Champions League qualifying round.

Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (born 18 April 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Juventus and the Poland national team.

After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in January 2006, where he made his professional debut in 2009.

In January 2006 Szczęsny joined the Arsenal youth set-up, progressing to the reserve team during the 2008–09 season.

In November 2008, he lost his balance while lifting a heavy weight and both his forearms were fractured, causing him to miss five months.

At the international level, Szczęsny has earned over 70 caps for Poland since his debut in 2009, and was included in the nation's squad as it co-hosted UEFA Euro 2012, also later taking part at Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

Szczęsny was born in Warsaw.

He is the son of Maciej Szczęsny, who was also a professional goalkeeper, having played for Legia Warszawa, Widzew Łódź, Polonia Warsaw and Wisła Kraków, along with seven games for the Poland national team.

Szczęsny trained at Agrykola Warsaw as a young player; soon, Legia Warsaw's goalkeeping coach, Krzysztof Dowhań, was so impressed with the young keeper, he allowed him to take part in a training camp with Legia's first team at the age of 15, joining them afterwards.

Szczęsny appeared on the first team bench for the first time during the Premier League match against Stoke City on 24 May 2009, remaining unused as the team concluded their season with a 4–1 victory at the Emirates Stadium.

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Szczęsny was promoted to the senior squad and given the number 53.

On 22 September 2009, he made his first team debut in the Football League Cup third round, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win against West Bromwich Albion.

In December 2009, manager Arsène Wenger revealed that he and the rest of Arsenal's coaching staff had high hopes for Szczęsny, saying, "We have identified Wojciech as a future great, great goalkeeper."

A month later, he added, "I really believe in him that he will one day be Arsenal's number one. He has all the qualities you want from a goalkeeper."

On 20 November 2009, Szczęsny joined League One team Brentford on a month's loan.

He saved a second-half penalty in his second match, a 1–0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers.

Szczęsny completed his fifth game for Brentford on 12 December 2009, where he made a number of saves to keep out Leeds United and was given the Man of the Match award.

On 22 December, Arsenal agreed to extend the loan for a second month until 17 January 2010, and then until 31 January.

Finally, it was extended until 31 May.

In April 2010, Brentford manager Andy Scott said, "His performances suggest that he would not be out of place in the Championship or even the Premier League. It has reached the stage where when he lets in a goal we wonder why he hasn't saved it."

One year later, after Scott was sacked as Brentford manager, Szczęsny strongly criticized the club on Twitter, and hoped that Scott would not be unemployed for long.

On 27 October 2010, Szczęsny made his second appearance for Arsenal in the League Cup, keeping a clean sheet against Newcastle United at St James' Park and stopping numerous attempts from Newcastle players.

He signed a new long-term contract on 11 November 2010, thanking both his father and his goalkeeping coach, Josh Phelan, for helping him progress in his breakthrough season.

Szczęsny made his Premier League debut in the 1–0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on 13 December 2010, deputising for Łukasz Fabiański and Manuel Almunia, who both missed the match through injury.

On 8 January 2011, he started the FA Cup third-round match against Leeds United.

The following weekend, Szczęsny kept his first league clean sheet in a 3–0 win over West Ham United at Upton Park.

Following Szczęsny's form after playing consecutive Premier League matches, Arsène Wenger confirmed that he would remain Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper, stating, "he's done nothing for me to take him out."

On 16 February, Szczęsny made his UEFA Champions League debut against Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium, making saves in a 2–1 victory.

On 27 February, Szczęsny let in a last-minute Birmingham City winner in the League Cup Final; a header from Nikola Žigić caused confusion between Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny where the latter pulled out of a clearance at the last minute causing the former to lose control of the ball, which rolled right into the path of Birmingham forward Obafemi Martins, who converted from close range.

In July 2011, Szczęsny expressed his desire to continue as Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of his career.

He played a half in each of Arsenal's pre-season games on their tour of Malaysia and China.

Szczęsny was assigned the number 13 jersey, formerly worn by Alexander Hleb and Jens Lehmann.

During the 2011–12 season, he became Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper, playing every minute of the team's Premier League matches.

After a spell on loan with Brentford the following season, he later became the capital club's first choice goalkeeper, winning two FA Cups and being the joint recipient of the 2013–14 Premier League Golden Glove with Petr Čech.

Arsenal were tied 1–1 (2–1 on aggregate) against Udinese and Szczęsny's penalty save proved vital in securing Arsenal a spot in the lucrative group stage of the competition for the 14th-straight season.

Arsenal went on to win the game 2–1 (3–1 on aggregate) with goals coming from Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott.

He subsequently went on two consecutive season-long loans to Italian club Roma in 2015, where his performances earned him a move to reigning league champions Juventus in 2017.

In February 2015, Szczęsny was named as Brentford's "Keeper of the Decade" in a club poll.

After serving mainly as a back-up to Gianluigi Buffon in his first season, during which he won a domestic double, he inherited the starting spot from the departed Buffon the following season, winning his second Serie A title; his performances also earned him a Yashin Trophy nomination in 2019.

He won a third consecutive league title the following season, also winning the Serie A Best Goalkeeper Award.