Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed he will likely leave the London club at the end of the season in pursuit for regular first-team football elsewhere, after becoming second in the pecking order to Thibaut Courtois. Real Madrid are looking for a long-term replacement for their ageing goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and are reportedly keen on the 32-year-old, while the likes of Paris Saint-Germain could well be weighing up a bid to sign Cech in the summer too, but where will he go?
“I don’t know what the club’s idea will be. It looks like it works well with me and Thibaut as a duo, but that can work for one season only. I don’t want another one like this. There always will be speculation, I leave it for the summer. It will be important to sit down with the club, with the manager, to consider all the pros and cons. We will see what will work out the best. When a specific offer comes I will consider it. There are offers one cannot turn down,” he said.
Cech has been used in domestic cup competitions for Chelsea this season, despite coming off the back of joint-winning the Golden Glove award (most clean sheets) with Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny last season. He’s been a terrific servant for the Londoners in his 11 years at Stamford Bridge, and looks set to be calling time on his Chelsea career in the summer. He can hardly be blamed, as he still has many more years of service to give as a goalkeeper. Many top-level shot-stoppers keep playing until their 40 now, so Cech could still have the best years of his career still to play.
He won’t be without offers either, as his form doesn’t appear an issue between the sticks, and despite Arsenal and Liverpool being tipped as potential new destinations next season, Cech could well endure difficulty playing for another Premier League club after having spent so long at Chelsea. That means his future perhaps lies abroad, and La Liga giants Real Madrid would be very keen on his signature. They aren’t the only European giants either, with Italian Serie A runners-up AS Roma and two-time French Ligue One holders Paris Saint-Germain also being linked.
For eleven years, Petr Cech has only known Chelsea, and it was the London club that transformed him from an obscure hot prospect to one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history. He will be given an incredible send-off should he exit the English top flight next season as expected, but where does his future lie?
