Łukasz Fabiański

The goalkeeper prefers another type of ride altogether.

Born in Kostrzyn nad Odrą, Poland, he was inspired to take up goalkeeping watching Gianluca Pagliuca playing for Italy in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The aspiring goalkeeper started his youth career Polonia Słubice, however, he'd be continuously on the move during his youth playing for 5 different teams in as many years until he signed for Polish professional football club Lech Poznań in 2004. A year later having only made a solitary appearance for Lech Poznań in the National Cup he would move to Legia Warsaw in 2005. In the 2005-06 season he helped Legia Warsaw win their domestic league, the Ekstraklasa, starting all 30 games and keeping 19 clean sheets, while only conceding 17 goals. His performances led to him being awarded the "Football Oscar" for the best goalkeeper in the Ekstraklasa. His outstanding performance in goal caught the eye of English super club Arsenal who signed him for £2.1 million in May of 2007. He'd spend 7 seasons at Arsenal from 2007-14 but would never be their first choice goalkeeper, widely criticized for conceding "soft" goals and playing more than 10 games of Premier League football in only 1 of those 7 seasons. He won the FA Cup in his last season with Arsenal, the silver lining in an otherwise less than successful period. In May of 2014 the Polish goalkeeper made a move to minnows Swansea City in a bid to rejuvenate his career, citing his desire to be the first choice keeper of a Premier League team. At Swansea City he firmly established himself as their top keeper, over the following 4 seasons from 2014-2018 he'd appear in goal in 149 games out of a possible 153, keeping 39 clean sheets. During this period he'd top the list as the keeper with the most number of shots saved in the Premier League. His last season at the club would see him voted as the fan's 'Player of the Season' for his performances, but it wouldn't be enough to save the club from relegation. On June 2018 his tenure with Swansea City came to an end as he signed for West Ham United for a fee of £7 million. He has 48 International caps for Poland with 21 clean sheets to his name.