LONDON: West Ham United's defensive rebuilding continued apace on Wednesday as the club confirmed the signing of Swansea City keeper Lukasz Fabianski on a three-year contract.
New manager Manuel Pellegrini has clearly identified the club's leaky rearguard as a priority after West Ham conceded 68 goals last season -- the joint worst with relegated Stoke City.
Poland international Fabianski, 33, joins France under-21 defender Issa Diop who signed from Ligue 1 side Toulouse for club record transfer fee reported to be around 22 million pounds ($29 million).
West Ham have also signed Fulham's English defender Ryan Fred Fredericks on a four-year deal.
Spanish keeper Adrian and former England number one Joe Hart, on loan from Manchester City, were both used at various stages by West Ham last season but neither could stem the flow of goals that threatened the club's top-flight place.
Former Arsenal keeper Fabianski, who spent four seasons at Swansea, was second on the list of successful saves for Premier League keepers last season although his efforts could not help the Welsh club escape relegation.
He is currently in Russia as part of Poland's World Cup squad although he did not play in his side's defeat by Senegal on Tuesday -- Wojciech Szczesny being first choice.
"West Ham is a massive club so I'm really happy to be joining at such an exciting time here," Fabianski, who has 45 Poland caps, told West Ham's website on.
"I will do my best on and off the pitch to help the team to achieve the best results possible and can't wait to start this new chapter of my career.
" The club's new director of football Mario Husillos said Fabianski will add strong competition for the goalkeeping slot.
"Lukasz is an experienced and established Premier League goalkeeper, with great quality that he has shown at both domestic and international level," he said.
"He fits perfectly the mould of the modern goalkeeper, with excellent agility, presence and distribution, and will bring strong competition to the position."