Arsenal have completed the signing of goalkeeper Petr Cech from London rivals Chelsea on a long- term contract for an
undisclosed fee. The 33-year-old completed his medical on Friday
and has now signed a £100,000-a-week contract
(€140,000), immediately making him one of the
club's highest earners alongside Mesut Ozil and
Alexis Sanchez. The £11 million (€15.5m) capture of Cech
represents Arsenal's first signing of the summer,
though Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had been
hugely reluctant to allow the veteran goalkeeper to
join a rival. Mourinho was keen to retain Cech as backup to
Thibaut Courtois, but owner Roman Abramovich
wanted to show respect for the Czech's 11 years of
distinguished service so ceded to his wishes for
first-team football as well as his desire to keep his young family in London. Cech has played a key role in the most successful
era of the Blues' history, winning four Premier
League titles, the Champions League, Europa
League, FA Cup and League Cup during his time at
Stamford Bridge. Despite being reduced to a bit-part role last season,
Cech still showed his goalkeeping prowess by
recording five clean sheets in his seven Premier
League appearances. His departure leaves Mourinho in need of a new
shot-stopper to provide cover for Courtois, and the Blues have already identified Stoke City's Asmir
Begovic as a primary target for the role. Arsenal, meanwhile, are expected to sell
Fenerbahce target David Ospina to make room for
Cech, with Wojciech Szczesny to be his understudy,
and the Czech could yet be followed to the Emirates
Stadium by Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe
Lollichon.

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