Swansea City have completed the free signing of goalkeeper Erwin Mulder on a three-year contract.

The club appears to want competition for Lukasz Fabianski, after Gerhard Tremmel has left the club with others possibly following.

Mulder was previously first-choice goalkeeper at SC Heerenveen.

The quotes

Speaking after the move, Mulder said: “I am very happy to be here, the Premier League is the biggest league in the world. As a player, you want to be part of that.”

The goalkeeper already has friends at Swansea, and he "spoke with Leroy Fer and Mike van der Hoorn. They told me some good things about the club.”

He went on to say that he wants to challenge for the starting goalkeeper spot, but "Lukasz Fabianski is here and Kristoffer Nordfeldt is here, so it is going to be difficult. But I am going to do best."

Who is Mulder?

Mulder has spent the last two years as first-choice goalkeeper at SC Heerenveen, and actually was signed from Feyenoord to replace Nordfeldt, who joined Swansea from SC Heerenveen in 2015.

Mulder has been a first-choice goalkeeper for Feyenoord, Excelsior and Heerenveen for the best part of nine years in the Eredivisie.

He even went on to captain Heerenveen eight times in his first season at Heerenveen, making this deal an odd move seeing as there is no fee involved.

Reportedly, when he moved to Heerenveen, Mulder negotiated a deal so that he would be able to leave on a free transfer after two years if a club came in for him.

Swansea also reportedly wanted to sign Mulder two years ago, but Mulder wanted to stay in the Netherlands so the club opted for Nordfeldt instead.

What does this mean for Swansea’s goalkeepers?

Fabianski has been first-choice at the club since his arrival on a free transfer in 2014, and that is very unlikely to change.

Despite conceding the second-most goals of any club in the Premier League last season, Fabianski is still rated very highly by those at the club.

Tremmel has left the club and is likely to join the coaching staff at the club, while Josh Vickers has also left the club on a free and has recently joined Lincoln City.

Mark Birighitti was signed on a free transfer last year from Newcastle Jets, but hasn’t featured for the first team and is likely to leave the club.

Nordfeldt has spoken out recently stating that he would like to leave the club on loan, and Mulder’s signing could pave the way for that to happen.

The likely scenario is that Mulder replaces Nordfeldt as backup to Fabianski.

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About the author
Jack Mceachen
Sports Journalist in Staffordshire University.