Brentford have confirmed the signing of former Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha with the one-time Fulham and Newcastle United target finally arriving in the Premier League, via the club’s official website.
From Fulham to Crystal Palace, Newcastle United to Chelsea, Southampton to Manchester United; Strakosha has certainly been around the houses this summer.
Marco Silva’s Cottagers agreed a four-year deal with the Albania international at the start of the window, only to see the transfer fall apart after the two parties failed to agree personal terms (Gianluca Di Marzio).
Newcastle showed an interest too before opting for a more proven, Premier League operator in Nick Pope. Ditto Crystal Palace and Sam Johnstone.
So no wonder Brentford are thrilled to get Strakosha through the door, given the sheer amount of interest in the Greek-born glovesman. Did we mention Strakosha, who joins the Bees on a free transfer, was valued in the £20 million bracket as recently as 12 months ago?
Thomas Strakosha joins Brentford
“I am pleased,” beams head coach Thomas Frank. “A top goalkeeper.
“He has been number one at Lazio for a long time, which is very impressive. He has played in Serie A and European competition and will bring that experience with him.”
Strakosha is far from guaranteed a starting spot in West London, however. David Raya will not be an easy man to usurp after all.
“I’m very pleased that Thomas has joined us,” adds Brentford goalkeeping coach Manu Sotela. “With him in our goalkeeper union, we will have a nice competition that will provide a step up for everyone.
“He fits perfectly with the sort of goalkeeper we want here. He can give us a lot of solutions playing from the back. He’s an outstanding shot stopper and is very good positionally. When we spoke to him, he showed his desire to come and work hard to make himself and our other goalkeepers better.”
While Crystal Palace and Newcastle appear to brought an end to their shot-stopper search – Southampton also snapped up Gavin Bazunu from Manchester City – Fulham are in danger of seeing another high-profile transfer fall through.
Fulham are yet to meet Arsenal’s price-tag for German international Bernd Leno, despite weeks of talks.
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