Chelsea have told Arsenal to forget about signing Petr Cech this Summer as they don’t want to sell to a direct rival.
The veteran shot-stopper is expected to leave Stamford Bridge after growing frustrated at the lack of game-time, and his decision to leave sparked interest from The Gunners, who are keen to find a suitable number-one.
Arsene Wenger dropped Wojciech Szczesny earlier this season due to a string of poor performances and a smoking incident off the field, and replaced him with Summer signing David Ospina. However, Wenger doesn’t see the Colombian as a suitable number-one option.
However, Chelsea officials have told their London rivals that they can forget about trying to lure Cech to the Emirates as they have no intentions of letting him leave to join a direct rival.
Earlier in the season Jose Mourinho stated that he wouldn’t get in Cech’s way if he wanted to leave and would allow him to choose where he ends up, but it seems now that they are against that decision after Arsenal’s recent run of form.
An Arsenal source told Goal: “Cech is still one of the best goalkeepers around and he would be the perfect signing, but the message from Chelsea is not to bother wasting our time.”
Cech was close to leave The Bridge last Summer but he eventually chose to stay and fight for his place alongside Thibaut Courtois, but after failing to win it back, he’s now ready to leave for regular first-team football.
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
