Mark Schwarzer’s Premier League career with Fulham looks to be drawing to a close after The Cottagers signed Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Italian side Roma on a four-year contract.
The 30-year-old becomes Fulham’s fourth signing of the off-season, following earlier moves for German full-back Sascha Riether, who spent last season on loan at Craven Cottage, Ghanaian midfielder Derek Boateng, and Venezuelan defender Fernando Amorebieta.
Stekelenburg’s arrival casts doubt on the future prospects of long-term first-choice goalkeeper Schwarzer, the 40-year-old Socceroo, who may now look to leave the club.
Schwarzer has previously said he was open to offers as he looks to play through at least one more season with Australia eyeing off a third consecutive World Cup appearance in Brazil in 2014.
Despite his years the veteran custodian showed he still has plenty to offer, making a crucial save and having an overall fine game in the Socceroos’ 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with Japan in Saitama on Tuesday.
Stekelenburg, who has won 54 caps for the Netherlands and played in the 2010 World Cup final defeat against Spain, said he was excited about the prospect of linking up with Fulham manager Martin Jol again, having previously worked with his compatriot at Ajax.
“It’s good that I’ll be joining Martin again,” Stekelenburg told the Fulham website.
“He knows my capabilities very well, so I am just looking forward to joining up with the team in pre-season and enjoying some time with them prior to the new season starting.
“I am very happy to be joining Fulham and to have everything sorted out so early in the summer, so I can really focus on preparations for playing in the Premier League next season,” added Stekelenburg who replaced Edwin van der Sar at Ajax early in his career and went on to win two Dutch titles in 2004 and 2011 before joining Roma.
Jol tipped Stekelenburg for success, saying: “He is a player of great quality and technical ability whose distribution and ability to react quickly and read the game is exceptional; he will be a fantastic addition to the talented team of keepers that we already have.”
