Will Petr Cech stay at Chelsea or leave the club?

Petr Cech

Ever since Thibaut Courtois was named as the starting goalkeeper against Burnley, there has been all sorts of speculation surrounding his future. What do YOU, the Chelsea fan reading this think he should do?

One thing is clear, Cech deserves all the respect in the world from the club, from the manager, his team mates and the supporters after what he has achieved at Chelsea. He will go down in history (up to this point) as the greatest Goalkeeper of all time at this club and a record breaker at that.

Cech has played a huge role at the club and has become a solid part of the core of our team through the most successful period of our history. That's why it's hard to see him sitting on the bench last Monday night.

The problem for Cech and for all players over the age of thirty and above, is that time and football moves on and with Courtois having proven himself for the last three years in La Liga and at the age of 22 (the same when Cech was brought into Chelsea), the young Belgian is ready to make the step up to the Premier League week in, week out.

At this point, it's important to remember that Jose Mourinho has stated that he picked the Belgian for the Burnley game and during his pre match interview, refused to confirm it was his choice for the season ahead.

Speaking after the game of Cech and his new career at Chelsea, Thibaut Courtois said:

“I want him to stay. Even if he doesn't play he can be a lot of help to me in training. I can still learn from him because he has a lot of experience, he can give me good tips about the Premier League, things I might not know at the start.

“He is nice to me. We are training very well and he is still proving he is a great goalkeeper. For the team it is better for us to have two good goalkeepers. I don't have a problem if he stays. Hopefully I can play well and stay in the team.

“Always when you are here you have pressure to perform because you are playing in a top team. There is always a pressure to win games and to be important and I am trying to do that in every game that I play.

“I came here obviously to play. I know that Petr is a great goalkeeper so there is a lot of competition, but when you come back from a successful loan you hope to play. Otherwise, it would maybe have been better for me to go to another team.

“It is nice that he put faith in me and it is for me now to prove his faith is right. I need to work hard in every training session and game to gain the confidence of my team-mates and the manager.”

None of us want to see Cech sitting on the bench as I am sure the majority, if not all of you, will believe that he is still deserving of being a number one in his league or any of the major leagues in Europe. At 32, he still has at least five, maybe six years ahead of him.

I think deep down, we all expect there to be moves made for Cech before the transfer window closes to test the water and to see if Jose really expects to be able to keep both keepers this season.

It's all well and good Courtois talking of learning from Cech but I am sure Cech would rather think of his own career and look to move on.

Whatever happens, it's so important that we give Petr Cech the respect he deserves here because he has earned it over the last ten years. If he wants to stay then fantastic! If he wants to leave to be number one somewhere else, then so be it.

What do you think Cech will do?