Well those ‘Sky sources’ I mentioned this morning were spot on, Chelsea FC’s Petr Cech has now officially signed for cross-town rivals Arsenal FC, ending a great 11 year run in West London.
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This deal was truly just matter of being officially released, with various reports stating that personal terms had been agreed and a fee settled for the last week or so. Having said that, it will still be hard for Chelsea fans to come to terms with the reality now that both clubs, and the player himself, have officially confirmed the deal.
(For those wondering, although officially undisclosed, the fee is thought to be around £11 million though I’m not sure how much CFC fans really care about that…)
The Blues have just a released a relatively short statement on the club website, thanking the Czech international for all that he has given to the team over the last 11 years.
‘During his 11 years at Stamford Bridge the goalkeeper became a Chelsea icon, winning four Premier League trophies, four FA Cups, three League Cups, the Europa League and the Champions League, when his heroics in the penalty shootout helped us lift Europe’s greatest club prize…
Chelsea Football Club thanks Petr for his fantastic service over the past 11 years, and in particular for his immense contribution to our success in that time.’
It’s very real.
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If that wasn’t heart-breaking enough, Arsenal have plastered his face all over their site too, where they’ve also released a statement that includes Arsène Wenger drooling over the prospect of actually having a proper goalkeeper for once.
‘Petr Cech is a player that I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased that he has decided to join us. He has proven over many seasons that he is one of the outstanding keepers in the world and he will add great strength to our squad.’
Ugh.
While the deal wasn’t officially confirmed, Blues fans everywhere were hoping that somehow it just wouldn’t come true and he wouldn’t move to The Emirates of all places. However, there is no escaping reality and Cech will now wear red/whatever Arsenal ‘keepers wear.
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Having said that, there can be no hard feelings between Blues fans and the big man. Any supporter who accuses Cech of being a ‘traitor’ or any of that nonsense exemplifies how sometimes somethings mean just too much to someone for the good of their own health…
I’ll leave you at this point with Petr Cech’s statement, released in a tweet (obviously). Good luck Petr.
My personal message to @ChelseaFC fans pic.twitter.com/NYPD34Vuag
— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) June 29, 2015
Next: Chelsea FC Great Frank Lampard To Make New York City FC Debut On July 12th