Mucha flew to the British Isles

Jan Mucha flew to the British Isles yesterday, and today everything regarding his future should become clear. Most likely, the Slovak international will sign a contract starting in July 2010, when his deal with Legia expires. With whom? That remains a big secret. Neither Mucha nor his agent Jozef Tokos wanted to reveal the name of the club.

The Slovak does not necessarily have to end up in the English Premier League; it could just as well be Scotland. And here only one team fits his ambitions – Glasgow Rangers. As for the English clubs, there was speculation about interest from Stoke, Sunderland, and Tottenham. “Such offers come once in a lifetime, and it’s hard not to take them. Everyone would like to have the kind of choice I have. Which club? Once I make the decision, you’ll all find out,” the player said. Neither Mucha nor his agent wants to reveal the name of the club.

The goalkeeper hesitated for a long time about what to do. The reason was clear – in five months, he wants to be Slovakia’s starting goalkeeper at the World Cup in South Africa. Right now, he holds an undisputed place in the squad led by Vladimir Weiss, but to keep it, he must play regularly. At Legia, that is guaranteed, even if he turned down the lucrative offer from club owner Mariusz Walter worth nearly 400,000 euros gross per year.

“Worried about my place? Come on, wherever you go in the West, every club has three goalkeepers of equal quality. You have to fight. I’m not afraid of that, I can take the risk, although right now a transfer fee would need to be paid for me, and clubs don’t want to cover extra costs for players they can have for free in a few months,” he declared two days ago.

Regardless of what happens today, by July at the latest Legia must find a replacement for the Slovak. Wojciech Skaba is out on loan at Polonia Bytom, and officials are monitoring Grzegorz Sandomierski of Jagiellonia Bialystok. Coach Krzysztof Dowhan remains calm: “Why get nervous about this? There’s no shortage of candidates for the job, and Janek has earned the chance to play for a better club,” he said.