Jose Mourinho says Petr Cech's future is out of his hands

Cech arrived at Chelsea in 2004 when Mourinho took over the reins for the first time as Chelsea manager

On several occasions already, Jose Mourinho has stated his desire to keep Chelsea legend Petr Cech at the club. The Czech shot-stopper has been linked with a move away from the Blues having spent large parts of his season on the bench as the Belgian Thibaut Courtois has taken over the mantle of being Chelsea’s first-choice custodian.

Arsenal seem to be offering Cech the chance to be their primary goalkeeper and stay in London, which could be attractive considering Cech has been settled in London for over a decade now. But Chelsea’s Portuguese manager has said if it was up to him, Cech would not go to Arsenal.

“You have to accept any decision that the owner will have in relation to Petr, but I am different,” he said.

“I have the same respect for Petr that everyone at the club has, but my answer [if he can join Arsenal] would be no way. If the answer is different, then I will accept.

“My answer is not important to this question because the owner is a person with the perspective that I admire a lot. He respects people who do important things for him and since 2004 to 2014-15, he has given great service to the club, unbelievable behaviour.”

While the decision of where the big Czech may end up could be out of Mourinho’s control, he might be looking to make the best of a bad situation.

Indicating that if Cech does leave, he may be part of a swap deal, he said: “For every club that is interested in Petr, I can find players in that team that I like too.”

On Arsenal as title contenders

The tension between Arsene Wenger and the Chelsea boss has been well documented in the past, but Mourinho had some praise in store for Arsenal and their manager.

He said: “I think Arsenal have a fantastic squad, probably much better than people think.

“Normally you say if you win a lot of titles then you have a fantastic squad, but they have a fantastic squad anyway.

“I believe, and I am not making fun here, that they have a top manager. I think they have everything. They were an opponent this season, but next season they will be even better.”

Chelsea might have to contend with more than just Arsenal as the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool are also strengthening and will look to make Chelsea’s title defence as difficult as possible.