Holland international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg stated his desire to leave Italy for the Premier League having recently lost his place in the Roma first team squad



He left Ajax to join Roma after spending nine years at the club, and although he started well he has only made nine appearences this season, conceding eighteen goals in the process

“I really wanted to join Fulham. I would have been guaranteed playing time,” he told Sport Promotion NL.

“I’m really disappointed that the transfer didn’t take place. I hoped that this situation would have ended differently.

“It’s a big blow that will take me a little time to get over, but I’m a professional and my objective is to become the first choice at Roma again.

“I can’t really blame anyone for this though. Roma, from the start, told me that they would have only sold me should they get an adequate replacement.

“The fact that the deal wasn’t done doesn’t mean that it won’t happen any more. We’ll see what the situation is like in the summer.”

With Fulham’s current goalkeeper not getting any younger it seems that Stekelenburg might be in Martin Jol’s long term plans.