The Daily Mail reported on Monday afternoon that the Chelsea goalkeeper, who is leaving the Blues after losing his starting spot to Thibaut Courtois, had agreed a move across London after the two clubs agreed the fee.
But the player’s representatives posted a message on Twitter denying that any such agreement had been reached – and the player himself then re-Tweeted the message to his 1.16 million followers.
WILL THE MOVE STILL GO AHEAD?
Fans will now wonder whether there is any genuine chance that Cech could stay put or head to a different club.
But by far the likeliest scenario is that the denial was merely an attempt to cool off the paper talk as the final touches are put to the sale documents and the player’s new contract.
After all, Cech’s PR company said not that there was no deal in the offing, merely that “no transfer deal has been done yet”.
GREAT COUP
If the switch is confirmed – and given that the transfer has been rumoured for months, there seems no reason to doubt it – the deal would be a huge coup for Arsene Wenger’s side.
Chelsea captain John Terry told Talksport that Cech “will save [Arsenal] 12 to 15 points a season.”
If Terry’s assessment of his now-former team-mate is accurate, that means Chelsea could have caused themselves a huge amount of trouble: the Gunners finished 12 points behind champions Chelsea last season.
Yet Chelsea will have had little option but to let the Czech international goalkeeper leave, given that he has just 12 months left on his contract. In light of that, they have actually secured a handsome price.
Whether they end up regretting their choice to let him go to Arsenal is another matter.
-Eurosport