5 potential replacements for Petr Cech at Arsenal

Cech was hailed as the missing piece of the title-winning puzzle when he surprisingly signed for Arsenal in 2015 after eleven trophy-laden seasons at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea.

The Czech custodian decided to up and leave the Blues after the then manager Jose Mourinho chose to go with Belgian shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois as the number one goalie.

The veteran goalkeeper has been decent for Arsenal amid the chaotic defending that has become characteristic of the team in the last few years. He has provided a steady hand and a calming influence on a defence that seems to become more error prone by the season.

However, Father Time is already beginning to take his toll and the great man is no longer as good as he used to be. The club would do well to begin looking at solutions to this quandary.

Here, we take a look at five potential replacements for the Czech Republic great:

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#5 Alex Meret (Udinese & Italy)

The young Italian looks set to challenge Gigi Donnarumma for Italy's number 1 spot for years to come

A strapping young lad looking to follow in the culture of legendary Italian goalkeepers, Meret's ascent to the top has been nowhere as dramatic as Donnaruma's has been but take nothing away from the young man; he has all the makings of a top-class keeper.

Quick off his line, agile and blessed with good reflexes and a keen understanding of the game, Meret is currently developing his skills at Serie A club SPAL on loan from parent club Udinese.

It has been rumoured that Italian champions Juventus are looking at the Italian U-19 international as a long-term replacement for the legendary goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon.

Under a manager like Arsene Wenger who is renowned for developing young talent, Meret will be expected to flourish and live up to his potential.

Given his height, long reach & quick reflexes, the Italian youth international will be a big hit in the fast-paced, physically demanding world of the Premier League.

#4 Anthony Lopes (Olympique Lyonnais & Portugal)

The Lyon number one will make a great goalie for the Gunners

Already being touted as the future number one goalie for Portugal, for a 27-year-old, it seems like Lopes has been around for a while, at the same time, it also sounds like he is a young upstart looking to bulldoze his way to the top.

Born to a French father and Portuguese mother, Lopes is a product of the famous Olympique Lyonnais youth system and has spent his entire career at the French club where he is now the undisputed number one.

A very good organizer of the defence, his ability to marshall and direct his defenders into forming an effective line will come in handy in an Arsenal side where defenders have become notorious for going walkabout during games.

Possessing agile reflexes, a calm presence in goal as well as the ability to play out of the back, he will be a huge asset to an Arsenal team that always looks to get on the forefront in matches rather than sitting back & looking to break on the counter.

Lyon will not want to lose a very reliable keeper. So Wenger will have to go big to get the Portuguese international to move to the Emirates stadium.

#3 Jack Butland (Stoke City & England)

Butland has been widely touted as the next number 1 for the Three Lions

Good English goalkeepers are getting rarer than chicken's teeth but among the few that are around at the moment, Stoke City's Butland is surely top of the pile.

Renowned for his excellent reflexes especially in one-on-one and aerial situations, the former Birmingham trainee has shone consistently in a team that has struggled defensively.

In the tradition of English goalkeepers, Butland is not the best at passing the ball out or initiating attacks like most foreign modern goalkeepers. However, he excels in the traditional English goalie traits, bravery, aerial ability, shot stopping and organizing his backline.

The Bristol-born defender will be looking to follow in the footsteps of former Arsenal and England goalie David Seaman in becoming the number one for club and country.

A strong goalkeeper with good reflexes will be an asset to an Arsenal team that always looks like they would concede and Butland would be a perfect fit to replace Cech.

#2 Sergio Rico (Sevilla & Spain)

The giant Spanish international will offer a skill set similar to a young ?ech

Almost from the day, he made his competitive debut for Sevilla, Rico has been linked to a move away from his hometown club to one of Spain's or Europe's leading lights.

Such is the talent of this beanpole of a goalkeeper that only the brilliance of David De Gea is keeping him from claiming the number one jersey for La Furia Roja for himself.

His height and long hands enable him to make saves that would be nigh on impossible for other goalkeepers.

This long reach also helps him make those saves easier like a young Cech or Thibault Courtois as he does not have to dive as far as a shorter goalie would need to dive to make these same saves.

Excellent at distribution as well as marshalling a backline, the Seville native would make an excellent long-term goalkeeper for Arsenal and could be the foundation of another title-winning season as Thibault Courtois and Ederson have proved/are proving for Chelsea & Manchester City.

A vastly experienced goalie who has consistently kept goal for Sevilla in Champions League & La Liga matches, these experiences would serve him well in helping to guide an Arsenal defence that would feature a couple of green youngsters like Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Callum Chambers.

His young age of 24 (in goalkeeping years) & relatively cheap buyout clause of £26m means that if Wenger were to move for him, Arsenal would be getting a world-class custodian who could man the posts for the next decade.

#1 Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan & Italy)

His price tag notwithstanding, Gigio would be a paradigm-shifting signing for the Gunners

The golden boy of goalkeeping at the top echelon of European football, big things have been expected from the youngster ever since his 6 ft 5 frame was sighted in goal for the Rossoneri during a Serie A game against Sassuolo in 2015.

Agile, fast off his feet with a good command of his penalty area and the ability to make superlative saves look routine, “Gigio” definitely looks to be headed to the top of world football and his signing would be a coup of monumental proportions for Arsenal.

In Donnarumma, Arsenal will be getting a youngster (he turns 19 in February) who while already very good has the ability to become the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Arsenal eclipsing even legends like Seaman, Jens Lehmann, Petr Cech and many more.

The love-hate relationship with the Milan faithful seems to have reached his breaking point after a section of the crowd accused him of being a traitor to the Milan cause, insults which caused him to break down in tears.

He will definitely not come cheap as reports have it that he will cost about £80m ( a world record for a goalie) but given his youth and potential, it will be seen as a bargain in the next couple of years.