As soon as he heard about Arsene Wenger’s ambitions for the club, Chelsea goalkeeper legend Petr Cech made his mind up to join Arsenal.
The Czech Republic international has spent the past 11 years at Stamford Bridge, during which time he has collected every major honour available. Not only has he helped the Blues win the Premier League title on four occasions, but he can also reflect upon winning the FA Cup four times and the League Cup three times, not to mention a UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
But last season the 32-year-old lost his place in the starting XI to Thibaut Courtois, the young Belgium international who had made himself impossible to ignore following a hugely impressive loan stint with Atletico Madrid. This led to Cech asking to leave Chelsea, and despite Jose Mourinho’s reservations, he was allowed to pick his club of choice providing his valuation was met.
Paris Saint Germain were willing to offer the former Rennes shot-stopper a return to France, but they were always second favourites once Arsenal entered the running. And after agreeing a fee in the region of £10million for Cech, the player has now signed a four-year contract worth around £100,000-per-week after being convinced to cross the capital by Gunners coach Wenger.
“I’m really excited about joining Arsenal Football Club and can’t wait to join up for pre-season,” he told the official club website. “When Arsene Wenger spoke to me about his ambitions for this club, and how he saw me as part of this team, the decision was clear. Arsenal is a team that challenges at the very top, a side that matches my ambitions and personal motivations.
“At this time of my career I believe I have made a good choice and I will have the success that I would love to have. I want to be playing and I want to be useful for the team and do the usual stuff on the pitch week in, week out. I hope I will have that possibility to compete for my place here at Arsenal and I hope that I can bring something a little extra to the team that can help.”
