Arsene Wenger has again swatted away rumours that he could move for Chelsea’s Petr Cech telling press he already has three world class goalkeepers at the Emirates.
The 32-year-old, hat-wearing Czech is set to call time on an 11 year spell at Stamford Bridge this summer after losing his first team place to Thibaut Courtois. The likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool and Besiktas have all been touted as possible destinations, along with a move across London to Arsenal.
Asked if he might splash the cash on the four-time Premier League winner, Wenger said:
“I don’t deal with the ‘if’. We have world-class goalkeepers, we’ve got three [Ospina, Szczesny & Martinez].
Asked if he’d sell Cech if he were Mourinho, the boss continued: “That’s a very tricky question because we are not interested in anybody at the moment.”
It’s well documented that Wenger is an admirer of Cech. As far back as 2005 he admitted trying to sign the player from Sparta Prague before he moved to French side Rennes.
“We wanted to take him before he went to Rennes but we could not get a work permit,” noted Wenger. “At the time he had not played the necessary amount of games for his national team.
“Yes, we missed out – but these things happen. He is not the only player we have missed out on. And when he moved to France we still had David Seaman and we had Jens Lehmann.”
Obviously business between the sticks will very much depend on the future of Wojciech Szczesny. The Pole started the season as the club’s undisputed number one but lost his place to David Ospina after his infamous New Year’s Day shower ciggy at St. Mary’s. He’s since been linked with the likes of AS Roma.
Sounds like the only ‘Cech’ we might have next season is Wojciech…
Kinda works? ….Anyone? So sorry.
the only ‘cech’ required is that for your cerebral matter..and while you’re at it, take wenger along with you too
“Boy, this party really died..”
Czech yourself, before you wreck yourself.
I think his “not interested in anybody” quote is a bluff by him so our current players don’t give up as we have a few games left to play.
Yep – it’s not as if he can say ‘I have three keepers and if I’m buying one this summer it means I don’t think any of them are quite good enough’.
We do have games and a cup final to play.
Although I suppose you could state a counter argument that it may motivate them to prove him wrong. Seems like cuntish Mourinho psychology though. Cuntology.
its not typically cuntish…
just too late, say early February, keepers are playing badly.
subtly suggest that you may look to improve that area in the summer if there is someone available or what not.
THAT gives the keepers a chance to prove themselves and up their game.
saying it with 2/3 games left and you are asking for deflation
Get him a hat and he will come.
I like my sugar with coffee and cream.
Well, I got to keep it going, keep it going full steam
Too sweet to be sour too nice to be mean!
Funny…I like her that way too….;-p
Am ok with all our current three goalies, just as the boss said.
Not that’s speculations going to do anyone the world of good but why is nobody talking about Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen? He’s been absolutely sensation for them plus we’ve been linked a few times throughout the year. I think he would be a far superior signing to Cech. It’s no secret that the German league has produced an abundance of talented goalkeepers. Plus at 23 and 6″3 his performances not only show him to be a world class keeper, he’s only going to improve. He’s long been seen as the replacement for Neuer and bringing him in would only… Read more »
GK isn’t #1 on our list of priorities. We could compete for the league with what we have if we can just get proper competition for Coq and Giroud in the summer.
If we get shot of Theo (and I think we probably should) we’ve got Welbeck and Alexis to compete on the left, Giroud and a signing up top and I think we still need a wide player to compete with the Ox too. Campbell & Gnabry aren’t ready.
If both Flamini and Arteta leave then one more in the middle but I wouldn’t be averse to Coq with Arteta as backup next season providing he hasn’t lost too much this term.
Classic Wenger troll. Martinez world class…. riiiiight
Makes me laugh when Wenger makes statements like this. Three world calls goalkeepers? If the definition of world class is that the guy is in the top 1000 in his position in the world then I guess yes. Top 100 for Emi? I doubt it. I wouldn’t even say Szceszny is world class, but both he and Ospina are good goalkeepers. Emi has potential no doubt, but lets not kid ourselves none of these guys are currently world class. Those agreeing with his statement are no doubt the same people who said Sanogo would go out on loan and score… Read more »
How many billions of people in the world? How many millons of gk’s? So i guess top 1000 would make you world class
Not as many as would think. Do you know how how much stress I went through to get a proper goalie for our Sunday league team? In the end we stuck with fat Dave because he was a good with his feet and took up lots of space in the goal, but was way too fat and slow to play outfield. Kind of reminded me of Neville Southall in his current form…and not in a good way.
Do you know Rambling Pete? I mean that in a most complimentary way 🙂
We’ve found rambling pete
Pete did appear about a week ago….
The fact remains that Cech is better than what we have so if available we should try and get him.
There is no way Cech is as good as he was, he made a lot of mistakes last season and it was never in doubt who was Chelsea’s no.1 this season. We should be looking elsewhere if we really want one of the best keepers in the world.
I think Lloris would be a better signing, providing we give him a good wash with industrial strength disinfectant, of course.
Cech was joint Golden Glove winner along with Szszesny. Both had great seasons last year. I don’t think Cech has deteriorated. We have no evidence of that. On the other hand, Szczesny’s performances for the first half of this season were bad. Do a Squawka comparison for keeper stats and you’ll see.
I agree. Chelsea are playing the long game with Courtois, Cech remains a phenomenal keeper (and seems to be a nice guy so I’m allowed to compliment him on an Arsenal site…..probably)
There’s lots of evidence, watch his performances from last season. If you disagree, fine but Szcz being joint golden glove winner with Cech playing behind a better defence isn’t exactly a great testament to Cech’s ability either having seen how Szcz has been this season.
Cech – seems decent enough as a human being and he’s definitely a good keeper but unfortunately infected by Chelsea so no we don’t want him. Sorry Petr, for the good of the rest of us it’s leper colony for you.
Hart and De Gea are being called world class these days. Quotes from the media in 2013: Roberto Mancini has accused Samir Nasri of not giving his all and has threatened to axe England number one Joe Hart if he continues to make costly errors. The statement about Na$ri is off subject but a bonus for us Arsenal fans, of course. Also, about De Gea in 2013: Manchester United on the hunt to replace flailing goalkeeper David de Gea with Iker Casillas on their radar. Lol about Casillas on their radar. Wenger, the most experienced coach in PL is not… Read more »
What’s people’s thoughts on the cup final keeper? Will Ches get the nod like Flappy did last year? Or will Ospina keep his place?
Chesney is the Cup keeper this season.
I wouldn’t mind seeing The Ox back in goal.
Do you mean Gibbs?
Remind me, which is which?
You mean Gibbs, right?
Theo is a great choice for goalie. He can run back and forth in the goal so fast he could block any shot.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree with this. I’d love for szczesny to work out more than anyone but smoking in the showers after a match he made mistakes in is not acceptable. As for ospina again I like him but I feel we have to be ruthless. Look at the other top 4 clubs goalkeepers. None of our three are in that category. If we want to win the league I feel we have to get a goalkeeper who occasionally is going to win the match for you and unfortunately I can’t see that in of those we currently… Read more »
Szczesny has won us lots of points during the years with some incredible saves. This has for some reason being completely forgotten now that he’s on the bench. Sure he has his flaws but he is definitely a keeper who can win you games and he’s showed that already. Just last season we had close games in which he made some really good saves, not just the once you expect but top class saves, that in the end won us points.
Talking about top four team goalkeepers, few years ago Hart was awful both for City and England. He was always making costly mistakes. De Gea too was making errors to a lesser extent. Both are now big assets for their clubs. Wenger is right to think that Szczesny will improve. In terms of sheer talent Szczesny is better than Hart and at same level as De Gea.
Sir chezzny is a good keeper, I’ll give you that. However, I just do not feel confident when I see his name in the teamsheet. Kinda like fabianski, who has now proven himself as a fantastic keeper at Swansea, I think the problem is more psychological than ability. Maybe a change of scenery would benefit szczezny? I wouldn’t say no to ospina and cech fighting for the number one spot (plus my grandfather immigrated from Prague so I’ve always had a soft spot for Czech players, hence ‘arsesicky’).
Cech is a plus…. offload scezny
Lloris?
No spuds, thanks…no chavs either
So you would say to no Sol Campbell back in ’01? Ha
I can’t count the amount of times I’ve watched that lot hoping, praying they get beaten only for Lloris to pull them out of it. I’d happily take him over either of our two if only so he can’t ruin my fun any more.
If you want to win the league nowadays u dont do it with the likes of Chesney and Ospina its a position that must be strengthened but is the most difficult position to do so
Something to do with Miss Piggy and who, moi?
If there’s anybody that doesn’t know that song, this comment is going to make absolutely zero sense, haha.
Meanwhile in the never never land that is tabloid journalism – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/11601409/Arsenal-transfer-news-and-rumours-Arsene-Wenger-calls-on-Petr-Cech-to-push-for-move-from-Chelsea-to-Gunners.html
Our neighbour lawn always seems to look better than our own garden
Cech is not the answer to Arsenal wining the EPL next season.
We need goalscorers
Arsene have always chosen maverick goalies ( hoping they will succeed)
Jens was not WC when he joined, he was Germany number two. Kahn was better. Yet we won trophies with Jens.
Ospina first season so far has been a success. Yes he should be 12 inches taller, but Casillas doesn’t do too badly being short
If Aresene says his goalies are WC I believe him
He knows better than you or I….
“We have 3 worldclass goalies”
Go get Cech only then will you see the difference between WC and simply good.
I’m still waiting for Szsczesny to become good again. We really don’t have the time, nor resources to work on a GK transfer again.
Lol he said resources?
wenger should of never said chez was the no1 keeper that made him brash and cocky now he has a different stance and places should be earnt through displays, i would sign cech he can be said is world class not sure the others are, they are very good keepers, its a term used loosely for players and keepers unless they prove it over a long period. on a free is a good situation for club and player.
The media really going all out in trying to to sell us Cech, don’t they? Did his agent payed them or something? Goal keeper is the one position that we really got covered, yet they keep pushing the narration.
Why move for a goalkeeper surplus to requiremet at the club we are trying to catch? Does anyone think Mourinho will drop him if He really is as good as we are made to believe?
The press will peddle this story so much that we’ll all be outraged and want Wenger’s head on a stick when it doesn’t happen
Personally I’d love him at Arsesnal.
Hope this isn’t true. I think this is the one signing that could make us champions next season.
If any one signing is going to win us the title it would be a striker. Stop believing all the bullshit the tabloids are feeding you.
Wait so, you don’t want us to be champions or…
I’d like him at Arsenal. In the short term he’d be better than both Ospina & Chesney. I still believe that Chesney has the talent to be right up there with the best but he swings between over – confidence to totally lacking in confidence. Ospina has shown he is a good shot stopper but has technical frailties that were exposed in our defeat on Monday and against Monaco – mistakes that I think Chesney would have been slaughtered for. I think a confident but not brash Chesney behind a more defensively balanced back 4 plus Le Coq has more… Read more »
People forget that Szczesny HAS been ‘slaughtered’ for mistakes this season and the reason why is because we’ve seen it all too often. Ospina isn’t because he’s hardly made a mistake that’s cost us a goal since January. I count one vs Sp*rs, potentially vs Moaco and at the weekend in about 20(?) games. Szczesny’s made 2 or 3 in his last 5 games.
I haven’t forgotten that he’s been slaughtered – in fact that’s what I am saying. He’s been at Arsenal a long time and sometimes familiarity breeds contempt – and we have seen lots of mistakes from him. I’d suggest though that he was very young to be a No 1 at ant club in the higher echelons of the league. We were also, until recently the least strong defensively of our peers and I think this adversely affected his decision making and the Saints game was a prime example -where his lack of faith in his back 4 to defend… Read more »
Arsenal is too soft for its own good. Be ruthless. If someone isn’t living up to expectations aka Sczc after years when he’s been practically unchallenged between the sticks offload what needs to be offloaded. IF Cech and a WC striker win us the league next season i bet you wouldn’t give a hoot about who gave way. Ruthlessness for a change please!
Ruthlessness of itself isn’t necessarily the right answer. We had to rely or invest in a lot of young players during the austerity years. Some have made it, sone didn’t but proved they were only slightly below our level. The trick isn’t knowing ruthlessness is needed but to know when to be ruthless. Some would say Jose is the best because he is so ruthless. I’d say it is easier to be ruthless when you can afford to be, much harder when financial constraints, FFP and homegrown quotas demand that, at some point you have to accept that you must… Read more »
I really think our keeper situation should be taken more serious than it is. Woj, as much as i love him, just isn’t good enough, neither is Ospina. Although we’ve gone on our great run with Ospina in the team, he hasn’t ‘won’ us any of those games. I’d rather see Woj sent out on loan somewhere to regain his confidence and improve his god damn kicking. As a team with ambitions to win titles next season we really should have someone with the quality of Courtois, Cech, De Gea, Lloris. Imagine how much more confident us fans would be… Read more »
I believe the hype is only a gimmick to raise Cech’s marketability. No doubt he ‘was’ good but he is 32. Arsenal is more of a ‘graduating school’ as opposed to R.Madrid’. ‘retirement home’niche.
Not exactly old for a keeper…
100% correct. It’s his agent stirring the pot. He knows that MaureenO won’t sell him to us and we are known for saying very little about transfer speculation, so the fuck-wit press will have a field day. To my mind MaureenO won’t sell him to any team in the PL that Cech would want to play for. He’ll be sold to another league however the PL pays players the best salary (except possibly the big 2 in spain and PSG) so the agent is drumming up fake PL competition to keep his player on the best money he can get.… Read more »
Some one at the work permit department is a massive Spurs fan tbh
Honestly, I would love to see how Damian Martinez has progressed. His displays on loan earned him the player of the season badge at his club, so I’m pretty sure he’s come a long way. Maybe he’ll make the competition interesting this summer.
No surprise. Commentators do not know what their arse from their mouth. We are not in urgent need of a keeper and it is not the area which will strengthen us. Recent concession by Ospina was an aberration to a positive trend. Most goals were conceded at start of season because of the lack of Cback option which resulted in goals conceded from wide areas (crosses and corners) bc of inexperience of Calum and Monreal. Since then we have tighten up considerably. To me Ospina is slightly iffyier coming out for crosses and challenging with bodies simply bc he is… Read more »
Cech , Iam sure could still contribute something positive to this team, whether he would be a major improvement, at his age, over what we have at the moment is debatable. In a way we have been quite lucky that Ospina has worked out relatively well, the odd rick aside, he has looked commanding in front of an albeit improving back 5. The real question in all of this is the future of Szczesny, will AW really let him go after encouraging his development to the point a joint golden glove winner last season? The whole caught smoking in the… Read more »
I think we need a good keeper. It’s significance can be demonstrated by somesomeone like de gea who is solely responsible for utd making it to top four.
He has earned them atleast 15 points. Look at the difference say even 8 points would make to our season.
We should sign Aus international goalkeeper Mat Ryan. Goalkeeper of the year in Belgium for the last two years running. A very talented player.
A GK is only as good as his defence. Cech has looked good because chavs defense has been good. We need a player in attack whose goals will win matches and versatile game plan