Wojciech Szczesny issued a strong response to speculation over his future by insisting that his relationship with Arsène Wenger remains positive and that he wants to stay at Arsenal for good.
The Polish goalkeeper has been linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer after enduring a difficult season in which he lost his place as Wenger’s No1 to David Ospina and was fined by the club after he was caught smoking in the dressing room following his error-strewn performance in the 2-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year’s Day.
However Wenger maintained his policy of selecting Szczesny in the FA Cup by starting him in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in the final and afterwards the 25-year-old stated that he had no desire to leave. With Arsenal potentially targeting Chelsea’s Petr Cech, though, Szczesny could find his opportunities of first-team football further restricted.
“You like to speculate but I’m happy where I am,” Szczesny said. “I’ve got all the support in the world off the manager, I’ve a fabulous relationship with him, so you can stop the guessing now – I’m here for good.”
Despite seeing Ospina move above him in the pecking order, Szczesny expressed gratitude to Wenger for standing by him during his spell out of the starting lineup. On the eve of the final, Szczesny was forced to distance himself from critical comments that his father made about Arsenal’s manager.
“The manager has been very good with me the last couple of months,” Szczesny said. “They’ve not been easy for me, but he’s been terrific for me, he’s showed me all the support in the world and I’m very thankful he let me play in the final. I didn’t really get a chance to disappoint today.”