Luk hip op was Fab says Gold
WEST HAM goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will be out until 2020 after he underwent surgery on his torn hip muscle.
The Poland international, 34, faces three months on the sidelines after suffering the injury while taking a goalkick against Bournemouth a fortnight ago.
Hammers chairman David Gold revealed the procedure to fix the club’s reigning player of the year’s muscle had been a success.
Gold wrote on Twitter: “Just to update you all, the surgery on Lukasz Fabianski’s hip went as planned this morning in London.
“He will hopefully be discharged later today.
“Speedy recovery Lukasz.”
Fabianski joined the Londoners in 2018 after his four years at Swansea ended in relegation.
And he endeared himself to Hammers fans straight away with a series of impressive performances between the sticks – which had been a problem position for a number of seasons. FRANK LAMPARD is taking Chelsea back to a bygone era.
And he is creating a much brighter future for the club while doing so.
That is according to former Stamford Bridge ace Craig Burley (right) who played at a time when Chelsea routinely brought young players through their ranks and into the first team.
As a youth-team player, Burley moved through the set-up alongside Frank Sinclair, Eddie Newton and Graham Stuart.
Now, a generation on, Chelsea are being forced to give the kids a chance as a result of a transfer ban.
And despite the odds being stacked against him, it’s an approach that is already paying a rich dividend for the Chelsea boss.
Particularly so after last weekend’s 4-1 mauling of Southampton, with Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount again on the scoresheet.
“It’s almost like being in a time warp because back in the 1980s and the 90s, if you were a young kid at Chelsea you were going to get an opportunity,” said Burley.
“It has been almost the opposite since then.
“This season has really reminded me of those days. You never know how these young players are going to get on but they have coped really well so far.
“You have the likes of Mount, Abraham and Fikayo Tomori and then you’ve got players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi coming back as well.
“This could actually be the best thing that has happened to them. There’s a realisation that these players now have to be given a chance.
“And fair to play to Frank Lampard for doing it.”
There are plenty more coming through as well, with Reece James shining in the club’s recent Champions League win against Lille.
It is a far cry from the doom and gloom that surrounded the club last season.
And a world away from the environment that Burley enjoyed, or endured, as an apprentice – including the way players refuelled.
“There isn’t too much I miss about have an allowance at the local hamburger and kebab shop when you’re an apprentice,” said Burley. “No pasta and boiled chicken then – it was a £2 daily allowance in the takeaway opposite Fulham Broadway station.” Chelsea were so hard up at the time that even that particular relationship was often fraught. “I remember going in and the guy would be banging on the table shouting, ‘Not paying, not paying,’” Burley added. “It turned out that Chelsea were so hard-up back then that they couldn’t even pay the kebab guy!”
Food for thought for the current generation.