17 saves in one game – It is imperative for West Ham to end goalkeeping woes by signing this talented 21-year-old

West Ham Opinion: Hammers should look at Bartlomiej Dragowski as a long-term investment

According to reports from Tuttomercatoweb, West Ham are interested in signing Fiorentina shot-stopper Bartlomiej Dragowski, who has caught the eye with a string of impressive displays on loan at Empoli.

Tuttomercatoweb also claims that the Hammers have a very healthy working relationship with Fiorentina, which should give them the upper hand in this deal.

A youth product of Polish club Jagiellonia Bialystok, Dragowski rose to prominence with his boyhood club in the Polish Ekstraklasa managed 23 clean sheets from 69 appearances in all competitions before completing a move to Fiorentina back in the summer of 2016.

However, the Pole’s time in the Serie A hasn’t been a happy one, with the 21-year-old struggling for regular minutes at Fiorentina.

Dragowski made 9 appearances for Fiorentina over the course of two-and-a-half seasons at Fiorentina before being shipped out on loan to Serie A strugglers Empoli back in January 2019.

The loan move, however, has worked wonders for his development, with the youngster making 12 starts in the Serie A and impressing with 3 clean sheets in the process.

The highlight of Dragowski’s loan spell at Empoli came last month when the 21-year-old set a new Serie A record for registering the most number of saves in a single game (17), bagging a clean sheet to help his team play out a 0-0 draw with Champions League-hopefuls Atalanta.

This remarkable feat has earned him a lot of plaudits and West Ham’s interest in the talented shot-stopper certainly looks justified.

Dragowski has featured for Poland at all youth levels up to U21, although he is yet to make his senior international bow for his nation.

Tuttomercatoweb claims that West Ham’s No.1 Lukasz Fabianski knows Dragowski very well from the Polish youth set-up and his presence at the club might work in favour of the Hammers if they are really serious about luring the prodigy to east London.

To put things into perspective, West Ham would do themselves a world of good by striking a deal for the young and talented Polish shot-stopper.

The Hammes brought in Fabianski from Swansea City last summer for £7 million and the veteran has proven himself to be a massive bargain for the club but Manuel Pellegrini should start planning for the long-term.

Fabianski has been absolutely brilliant between the sticks for West Ham in the Premier League this season but back-up goalkeeper Adrian is out of contract in a month’s time and the Spaniard will leave the club after making just 5 appearances in domestic cup competitions this season.

Hence, it is quite clear that West Ham need to bring in another shot-stopper in the summer window to maintain the balance of the squad.

To Read More West ham News, Click Here:- Latest West Ham News

Dragowski would be expected to play second-fiddle to Fabianski next season if a move does materialize, but the Hammers should look at him as a long-term investment.

They need to groom a talented young goalkeeper to eventually take over the No.1 role from Fabianski and Dragowski is certainly a good option for that purpose.