Wojciech Szczesny wants to stay at Roma permanently

When Wojciech Szczesny was sent to Roma on loan at the start of this season, the rationale behind the move was for him to develop as a starting goalkeeper while new signing Petr Cech manned the posts for the parent club. Szczesny's move to Roma wasn't a permanent one but rather an opportunity to grow and come back either as a more advanced understudy of Cech's or a potential replacement. By all accounts, it seemed that Szczesny was more or less in agreement with this arrangement.

However, the Polish keeper now appears to want to stay at Roma permanently and not take part in the club's long-term plans.

"I want to stay," he said. "It's not all up to me, obviously. I want it to happen, and I know Roma and Arsenal are talking about it, so we'll see what happens.

For Arsenal, selling Szczesny wouldn't make much sense. After all he's only 26 years old and, despite some adventures in ball-dribbling at the back, has shown that he's an above average keeper in the Premier League. That, coupled with David Ospina's own catalog of blunders, could lead to a need at backup goalkeeper next season or the year after that given Cech's age. This is just chatter on his end for now but it's definitely something to keep an eye on as the long-term future of the position is being discussed.

Szczesny has made 39 starts in all competitions for Roma this season.

UPDATE 9.55 AM PT: The man himself has debunked this rumor in a Facebook post.