Swansea vs Chelsea: Lukasz Fabianski embraces life after Arsenal - and Brexit - as he settles down in Wales

Exclusive: Fabianski is now established as No.1 at the Liberty Stadium and goes into Sunday’s encounter with Chelsea as the Premier League regular that he left Arsenal to become

Mark Ogden speaks exclusively to Swansea's Lukasz Fabianski (Getty)

‘Did you vote? Were you in or out?’ Lukasz Fabianski asks as he steps into the canteen at Swansea City’s Fairwood training ground.

Almost three months have passed since the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU and the decision continues to confuse those on the flip side of the coin – pound rather than Euro, obviously – and Fabianski, Swansea’s Polish goalkeeper, is clearly still coming to terms with his adopted home choosing to withdraw from Europe.

“At the moment, I don’t know how to take it really,” said the 31-year-old. “When I came back from the Euros, there didn’t seem to have been much of a change.

“I read about things (attacks on Poles) happening after the vote was made and the decision was taken. You hear about incidents happening, so I guess we have to wait and see.

“Maybe it will take 2-3 years for everything to happen that they want, but I don’t know. It’s the political part of life and we just have to respect the decision really.

“There is a lot Poles, Slovakians here. I don’t know, but I think we are good people. That’s the decision that was made, but yeah, I don’t know.

“I’m not a political guy, but living here in the UK, in Swansea, is great for me and my family.

“Since I moved to the UK, it has been ten years almost, I have never had any issue. My boy, Jan, was born in London and people have been great to me. I have been really happy living here.”

On a personal level, Fabianski, at least, has not struggled for acceptance in the Premier League, particularly since leaving Arsenal for Swansea after helping Arsene Wenger’s team end its ten-year wait for silverware with the FA Cup in 2014.

Lukasz Fabianski with fans after Arsenal won the 2014 FA Cup (Getty)

The former Legia Warsaw goalkeeper is now established as number one at the Liberty Stadium and goes into Sunday’s encounter with Chelsea as the Premier League regular that he left Arsenal to become.

But while he accepts that the searing spotlight of Arsenal is less intense in south Wales, Fabianski insists he has not entered a comfort zone devoid of pressure at Swansea.

“At Arsenal and the so-called big clubs, you always know that there will be a bigger spotlight on every single position,” Fabianski said. “Playing in the Premier League, there is always a spotlight on players because it is so worldwide and well-known, but for me personally, I wouldn’t go into any game thinking the spotlight was less on me at Swansea.

“You go into every game knowing that somebody wants to compete with you and take your place. There is no easy option and you always have to prove yourself.

“At Arsenal, there is a spotlight, yes, but it is now in almost every other club.

“But the reason I came here, the reason I left Arsenal for Swansea, is because my aim was to get the chance to be playing regularly in the Premier League.

“It wasn’t as though I was thinking, ‘go to Swansea and, here you go, and you will play every week.’

“I knew I would have to work hard in training, try to prove in every single game that I deserve it.

Lukasz Fabianski moved to Swansea in search of first-team football (Getty)

“That was the challenge for me, but I knew that Swansea gave that chance to me and I was happy to take it.

“This is my third year over here now, I have been playing regularly for two years and it has helped me to grow as a goalkeeper and in experience. That is very important for me and I am very happy with my situation.”

Pep Guardiola’s ruthless culling of Joe Hart at Manchester City highlights the tightrope now being walked by those deemed to be at the very top of their profession, however.

Regarded as being unable to provide the distribution with his feet that Guardiola demands of his goalkeeper, England international Hart was dispatched to Torino, with Claudio Bravo from Barcelona recruited to fill the gap.

And while Fabianski has sympathy for Hart, he admits that mastering every aspect of the game is now as crucial for goalkeepers as outfield players.

“I knew when I came to Swansea that they expect their goalkeeper to be involved quite a lot,” he said. “That’s the way of playing for us.

“I don’t know what the situation is at Manchester City, but if the former manager did not ask Joe to do that job for him, then why would he do it?

Lukasz Fabianski starred for Poland at Euro 2016 (Getty)

“In today’s game, though, you have to put all the aspects together as a goalkeeper.

“We know nowadays that football has become more possession-based and there is a greater demand for goalkeepers to be involved in terms of playing from the back.

“Sometimes, the passes are just short to keep possession, nothing more than that, but it’s part of the game.

“You have to work on it and practise every day. At Swansea, we have Tony Roberts, the goalkeeping coach, and he is very keen on covering all the aspects – crossing, shot-stopping, playing with your feet.

“He wants to put it all together, so during the week, we focus on all aspects of goalkeeping. He is passionate about that and specific on it and it has helped us develop in many ways.”

It is understood that Guardiola’s first choice to replace Hart was Bravo’s rival at Barcelona, the German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, and Fabianski – his pass completion rate of 70 per cent last season eclipsed Hart’s ratio of 52.6 per cent – admits that he regards the 24-year-old as the best of the new generation of sweeper-keepers.

Fabianski spoke highly of Barcelona's Ter Stegen (Getty)

“When I watch football, the most impressive for me is Ter Stegen at Barcelona,” he said. “I don’t think you can say whether he is right or left-footed and that’s really impressive.

“When he finds himself under proper pressure from opponents, he reacts with his feet and still looks very comfortable.

“He always looks for the best solution rather than kicking it out.

“But nowadays, there is so much analysis that opponents will now study the tendencies of goalkeepers – how many touches they like to take, what they do with it etc.

“It all comes from analysis and they will see that some ‘keepers take one touch, others will take two.

“I haven’t played in La Liga so it is difficult to know the true differences that Bravo will find when he plays fir City, but it is physical in the Premier League.

“The crossing situation, the challenges when you go for the ball, I think it is more physical than in Spain. And it is very quick.”

Fabianski had his work cut out for him two weekends ago against Leicester's Jamie Vardy (Getty)

For Fabianski, though, the challenge of adapting to a new league and new country has already been achieved.

More pressing right now is helping Swansea get their season back on track against a Chelsea side boasting a 100 per cent record so far this term under Antonio Conte.

“Our start was promising, winning at Burnley on the opening weekend,” he said. “But we wanted to back it up with a performance and a win against Hull City and it didn’t really happen for us.

“Playing against Leicester, it was a tough day for us. We played against a champion and they hadn’t won any of their first two games, so you could see that they were really up for it as well.

“We tried to compete, but on the day, they were better than us and deserved to win the three points.

“As a team and as a club, we wanted more, but we managed just one win. Hopefully we can get back to playing well and getting the results we need, but Chelsea is a massive challenge for us.

“When you look at the first three games, they won all of them, so they are on a good run.

“But we’re at home, in front of our own fans and we want to bounce back after two defeats. We want to give the fans a reason to be happy.”