Llorente ready to lead the line for Swansea, insists Fabianski

Fernando Llorente’s form has fallen off a cliff over the past few seasons but Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski insists he can find redemption in the Premier League.

The Spain international has netted just 16 times across the last two seasons after stints at Juventus and Sevilla ended with a whimper.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine now that Llorente was one of the most potent forwards in the world after scoring 29 goals for Athletic Bilbao back in 2012.

Now Llorente has taken up Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin’s olive branch at Swansea, with the 31-year-old stating that his aim is to work his way back into the Spain squad.

And after helping the Swans to a pre-season victory over Rennes in his first appearance, Fabianski is convinced the target man can hit the heights once more.

“The link-up play with Fernando looked very promising, and that’s a very positive sign for the start of the season,” he said.

“He looks very intelligent on the ball, he looks strong and holds the ball up very well.

“We only had one corner against us, and he was the one that cleared the ball. They are good signs.”

Swansea open up their Premier League campaign at newly-promoted Burnley this weekend, marking the start of Guidolin’s first full season in charge after steering his side to safety last year.

(Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images,)

And despite a busy summer on international duty with Poland, Fabianski insists he will be ready for the new campaign.

“It’s been one of the shortest pre-seasons for me because of the Euros, but I wasn’t busy at all, which is good!” added Poland international Fabianski.

“I’ve had two weeks of training so I was ready to get 90 minutes under my belt.

“We have another week of preparation before the season starts, so we will be ready in the best way possible for it.

“I can’t wait for the start of the season, and hopefully we will do well as a team.”