Possibly one of the greatest goalkeepers to grace the Premier League is probably about to leave the top flight this summer in favour of a switch to the Serie A. With the 36-year-old letting some of his standards slip at Arsenal last season he could well be on his way out.
The former Chelsea man has had a career like no other having won four Premier League titles, five F.A Cups (one with Arsenal), one League Cup, one Europa League and one Champions League. He has won the Golden Glove four times and holds plenty of goalkeeping records such as the most cleans sheets in Premier League history (201), the most number of clean sheets in one season (24) and at one point he held the record for the most amount of minutes consecutively without conceding a goal (1,025 minutes).
But now it looks like he will not be taking part in the Premier League in 2018/19 having spent 14 years plying his trade in England. It looks like he is about to start a new chapter of his illustrious career as Unai Emery looks to conquer the Premier League with Arsenal as they hope to pick up their first title since 2003/04.
The frontrunners for the Arsenal shot-stopper are Italian side Napoli who are looking to shore up their defence with current goalkeeper Pepe Reina heading for the door despite having the most Serie A clean sheets.
Having finished 2nd behind Juventus, the future is bright for the club from Naples as they finished just four points behind the usual runaway leaders. Their defensive record last season was impressive having only conceded 29 goals all year, but with the experience, Cech would bring could reduce that amount and reduce the gap even further on Juventus.
However, the only way Napoli want to secure the deal is by loaning in the former Rennes stopper. With Carlo Ancelotti now in charge of Italian side he will want to turn to a goalkeeper he can trust; having worked together at Chelsea. It would be a shrewd move because Cech still has lots to offer despite enduring a difficult season. With players in front of him such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam and Raúl Albiol they will provide much better cover than the leaky Arsenal defence of last season.
The outward move of Cech would mean that Arsenal will look at Bernd Leno as their new number one in a move rumoured to be worth £19.2 million. However, there is an argument to keep Cech at the club and help train Leno who is only 26-years-old and inexperienced in goalkeeping terms. The former Czech player of the year would also provide better cover for Leno if he moves than David Ospina as Arsenal tackle both the Premier League and Europa League once again.
This is by no means a step backwards, if anything it is a step forward as Cech would be heading into a team who are making serious inroads in stopping Juventus from grabbing their eighth consecutive Serie A title. The move makes perfect sense and will benefit all parties, but it will be sad not seeing the rugby helmet next season if Cech does leave London.
