Roma have opened talks with Arsenal over a loan deal for their Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, a source has told ESPN FC.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has publicly expressed his hope that Szczesny and David Ospina would battle it out for a starting spot in his side this season, despite the high-profile arrival of Petr Cech from Chelsea last month.

That always seemed to be an improbable prospect, with Wenger unlikely to be able to keep a trio of international keepers content in the upcoming campaign.