Lukasz Fabianski has spoken of his regret at leaving Swansea City after completing his £7m move to West Ham.
The goalkeeper was an unused substitute at the World Cup on Tuesday as Poland opened their campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Senegal.
Following that match, the Hammers announced on Wednesday morning they have signed Fabianski, who spent four years at the Liberty Stadium following a move from Arsenal.
The Pole was in tears on the final day of last season as the Swans were relegated from the Premier League and was quoted after yesterday’s defeat saying that he would leave the Liberty Stadium with a heavy heart.
“If I leave, I will regret that it happened at the moment when we fell from the league,” he said.
“I spent beautiful moments there. I remember that the club helped me in a bad time when I had health problems and I wasn’t really playing at Arsenal.
“I was trusted and I met many great people in the city, I have a beautiful home there, in which I raised my son. The memories will last a lifetime.”
Fabianksi, 33, has signed a three-year deal with West Ham after missing just three Premier League matches in four seasons with the Swans.
He had a year left on his current contract, but new Swans manager Graham Potter confirmed after his appointment last week that he would not stand in the way of any player who wanted to leave, provided that the selling price was right.
Fabianski, who was voted Swans’ Player of the Year last season, said: “West Ham is a massive club so I’m really happy to be joining at such an exciting time here.
“I will do my best on and off the pitch to help the team to achieve the best results possible and can’t wait to start this new chapter of my career.”
Fabianski will fill the void left at West Ham by Joe Hart after he returned to parent club Manchester City at the end of last season.
West Ham director of football Mario Husillos said: “Lukasz is an experienced and established Premier League goalkeeper, with great quality that he has shown at both domestic and international level.
“He fits perfectly the mould of the modern goalkeeper, with excellent agility, presence and distribution, and will bring strong competition to the position.
“Of course, at this moment, Lukasz is fully focused on the World Cup finals with Poland. We wish him all the very best out in Russia and look forward to welcoming him upon his return to England later this summer.”
As Potter starts to re-shape Swansea’s squad for the upcoming campaign in the Championship, the club have also announced a back room change with the departure of goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes.
Having spent six years in the academy, where he worked with the under-23s and under-18s as well as the club’s younger keepers, Sparkes has taken a new job as first-team goalkeeping coach with the Pirates, one of the biggest clubs in South Africa.
They finished second in the South African league last season and will play in the African Champions League next term.