Arsenal's Wojciech Szczensy could be about to leave the club, albeit on loan, as club officials open talks with Italian side AS Roma.

The 25-year-old lost his place as the side's first choice goalkeeper after the signing of David Ospina and since the summer arrival of Petr Cech from Chelsea, the number one jersey looks very much out of Szczesny's reach.

Topsy-turvy time at Arsenal

Szczensy lost his place after the Gunners' New Year's Day defeat at Southampton. Szczensy made two errors during the match, and his situation was made worse following reports of the 'keeper smoking in the shower after the game.

The Poland international made his Premier League debut for the side in Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in December 2010, replacing the injured Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia. He then went on to keep his first clean sheet in a 3-0 win over West Ham United a week later.

During the 2011-12 season Szczency became Arsene Wenger's first choice goalkeeper and went on to play in every minute of the side's Premier League campaign. He was given the No.1 shirt in 2012 due the release of Almunia but missed large parts of the season through injury.

That following summer Szczensy was named in Poland's squad for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 Championships but had a tournament to forget. He was sent off in his country's opening game against Greece and failed to feature again for the remainder of the competition.

In November 2013 he signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal and ten days later he recorded his 50th clean sheet for the club in a 2-0 victory over Marseille in the UEFA Champions League.

During the last campaign he featured on just 17 occassions for the Gunners in the Premier League but managed to play a key role in their retention of the FA Cup. Following the victory over Aston Villa, Szczensy insisted he was 'here to stay'.

Despite this, Roma head coach Rudi Garcia is thought to be interested in signing the goalkeeper as the French boss looks to bolster his side ahead of their upcoming Serie A and Champions League campaigns.

Other targets seem to be out of reach

The Italian side have also shown an interest in PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu while Iker Casillas has been linked with a switch to the Serie A after leaving Real Madrid, although he has since joined Porto.

The Szczensy move, however, is thought to be initially a season-long-loan with Arsenal boss Wenger expressing he would gladly keep Warsaw-born Wojciech despite Cech's arrival at the Emirates.

Szczensy, who has made 181 Arsenal appearances at the club, is contracted with the North-London side until the summer of 2018.

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About the author
Ben Betts
Ben joined the VAVEL team in June 2014 and has since gone on to become an active member of both The Football League and Serie A offices. At the age of 19 he is currently on a gap year, working at a local college before he embarks on a Finance, Accounting and Management degree at the University of Nottingham.