Fulham have confirmed the signing of Czech Republic goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny from Greek side Panionios as a replacement for Edwin van der Sar.
The 25-year-old is currently number two to Chelsea keeper Petr Cech for at international level. Drobny, who initially signed a pre-contract agreement in January, is expected to become Fulham’s new first-choice keeper. He will compete with Mark Crossley for the number one shirt at Craven Cottage.
Fulham’s goalkeeping coach Dave Beasant says he will be working hard to get Drobny bedded in ahead of the new campaign.
He said “Because we were concerned about losing Ed in the last transfer window we took the steps to make sure we weren’t left short here. Now Jaroslav will be coming in and joining us for pre-season.
“Obviously it would have been great to have him in and work with him for three or four months while Ed was still here because Ed is a great person to watch and learn from as well. It would have been ideal to have him working with Ed and Mark Crossley, but that’s not going to be the situation.
“And now he is going to come in we just have to make sure we get him prepared and as ready as we can for the British style of football sooner rather than later.”
