Petr Cech is to undergo a medical today as his move from Chelsea to Arsenal nears completition.
The information comes from BBC Sport’s David Ornstein who Tweeted:
His information suggests that the fee is done, the personal terms are done, so this is essentially the last piece of the puzzle.
Until Mourinho’s 11th hour intervention which will scupper the whole thing forcing us to bring in Rüştü Reçber once we can agree war-paint terms with him.
Awesome news. Fucking awesome news. What a coup he would be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgET1Zhpb8
I’d put a YouTube link to his greatest saves, which are fantastic, but then you’d have to look at lots of Chelsea tw*ts,
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/argentina-0-colombia-0-5-4-penalties-messi-and-co-advance-despite-ospinas-heroics
Ospina not making it easy, hard to argue that he isn’t ‘world class’ given his record in the PL and at the Copa.
Right, and we’re supposedly letting him go for 2-3m. He’s only a year older than Szczesny who everyone talks of as very young and bound to improve. Ospina’s stats were excellent last season (third best, I think) which is pretty impressive for a keeper new to the Premier League. Cech’s stats in the domestic cups weren’t nearly so good but perhaps we can put that down to lack of practice and depression over losing his place to Courtois. Hopefully he’ll pick up once he’s first choice and playing regular games. Obviously Ospina has to be sold. It would be criminal… Read more »
To answer my own question, several sites are saying that Chelsea have refused to release Lolli. Not a surprise as Mourinho was bound to find a way of thwarting us somehow, but it’s extremely unfortunate seeing as we’ve already released our best coach to Swansea. Still, it seems very odd that Lolli is saying (at least according to the Standard) that we haven’t even made an official approach for him. I’d understood from an earlier article on this site that Cech’s coming to us was conditional on Lolli being part of the deal.
Third best in what sense? I don’t remember him making any big saves that a ‘world class’ keeper makes. In fact i remember his huge blinder against Swansea. He is decent but was made to look better at a time which coincided with Coq emerging and defence getting tighter.
Watch Part 7 of the Copa highlights, the Messi save!
lol..epic. but its a chelsea player we are talking about. i am staying calm till his picture with arsenal shirt is released.
Yes, I’ll wait until it’s a done deal on the AFC site.
MaureenO may still have the chance to screw this up for us if he can.
yep, i agree…….i don’t trust mourinho one bit, and the demba ba transfer saga comes readily to mind!…..so i will only believe this when i see him holding an arsenal shirt!
Seeing Ospina’s performance in last match, JM can still unscrew this move. JM: 2 world class GKs in Arsenal shirt? NoWay. lol. so, fingers crossed.
If Arsene’s still going when he retires, assuming he does so with us, I think the temptation to offer him a testimonial would be overwhelming, purely as a big FU to Jose. Once he inspires us to three back to back titles and the Champions League, of course.
Awwww, I was hoping we would sign Sebastian Frey or the goalie called Viera.
…..lol, those goalies must have retired by now, cos they haven’t been linked to arsenal in the past 5 years
In unrelated but amazing news, I’m pleased to report that the fans at the ARG v COL game are doing our OOOSSSPPPIIINNNAAAAAAAAAA chant!
Couldn’t get an appointment before that? Bloody NHS
It will be another great signing. Very excited to see how the summer plays out for us.
If you take our Cesc we will take your Cech. Fuck u Mouninjo
Hope news that Benitez wants Koscielny does not unsettle the rock, Cech is supposed to have in front.
Benitez can fuck right off
Why would Kos want to play for a fat Spanish waiter instead of for a svelte French economics professor?
Well, aside from the food I guess.
actually the need for Cech now is greater than the need for Cesc last year. I think Ozil and co had a better year in those midfield areas.
Hope it happens. Feel sorry for ospina as he did so well towards the end of the season but I don’t think Wenger would push a new signing out. Maybe he never fully adapted to life in England or he himself handed in a transfer request
Or maybe Wenger has got a ruthless side now and wants to fill each position with the absolute best quality he can get. He wants the title, and Cech, along with everyone else we have, can help bring it.
I’m thinking maybe he always had this ruthless side. He just didn’t have the funds to back it up.
Whatever. I love it so much that we’re back!
Congrats sir. Comment of the week. Wenger bacame such an easy target for the press and pundits. It was all so lazy. In the end I wilted and started believing their shit. To my credit I held out longer than most of my friends. What he had done is nothing short of incredible. He kept in the champions league with players like Denilson. The truly ignorant Arsenal fan will say well he bought him. Sighhhh
Yeah he does and I hope he addresses the DM position as well similarly – either as competition (preferably) or backup.
The season is long and we have seen the positive impact of the role.
I was thinking the same, hopefully we’re the club Schneiderlin was referring to when making that statement on his future being “sorted”. Not only that he’ll provide necessary competition to Coquelin, but also we can’t afford to lose out on him to United. If they sign Schneiderlin they’re in for a good shot at the title. Which, is absolutely a nightmare. Three set of fucking fans I can’t keep up with; Chelsea, United and those cunts down the road who for some reason convinced the media they’re a big club despite never winning the league since ’61. Fuckers.
He would not make them title contenders alone. Let’s be realistic here.
United are nowhere near being title contenders, which is actually pretty strange if you look at the money they’ve spent. Van Gaal is a great coach when given a good set of players to work with, but I don’t rate him at all when it comes to developing a squad. They signed six players last summer, and ended up with only two of them in their first choice eleven by the end of the season (one of Shaw/Rojo/Blind at LB and Herrera), while largely relying on the miraculous revival of several players LvG had all but written off at the… Read more »
Well they are a little behind us. They need a cb, dm, and striker to be contenders.
Plus they haven’t also gelled as well as we are.
I hope he surprises us all and goes for the Brazilian Udinese DM Allan Marques Loureiro, who nobody’s heard of (including me until yesterday) but has some of the best defensive midfield stats in Europe’s top 5 leagues last season and is also pretty technical which AW would like. If you see his highlight videos, he dribbles like a Brazilian winger. Unfortunately the only club he’s really been linked to is Chelski, but that was like 5 June and not anymore since then, and anyway I believe they would rather go for a big name cuz of who they are.
I think when Ospina came, he did not even expected to have benched Szzzzzny for such a long peroid himself. In a way, it is a good stepping stone for him to make his name more well known, and he has indeed done well.
Yeah lets put it this way:D
Best deal of the summer….already
I hope not, expecting much better deals in signing a World Class Striker and DM.
I should expect Ospina to be retained to push Cech to bring the best out of both goalkeepers, competing for the number one position. I can’t see Szcz as perfect competition for Cech. We should retain the 3 goalkeepers and decide who to get rid off next summer.
He’ll be a great mentor to Szcheszchszcny.
szchzczhzczsure will!
I don’t blame the cynicism given who we’re dealing with, but I can’t help but be excited anyway. This is great news!
Also, fuck Chelsea.
Fuck mourinho, too. & thanks for letting him go even with his unwillingness.
And fuck Boringho
I wouldn’t fuck Chelsea, unless there’s a very, very, very good VD clinic near you. This is the club that has John Terry as their captain, remember.
And it’s just occurred to me that Cech’s first game for Arsenal, assuming he’s selected, will be the Community Shield against Chelsea!
This comment wins the arsetenet
I’ve been reading about all of his horrific injuries and he doesn’t give a shit unless he gets his ball. The guy is a legend (now that he’ll be playing for us). Great signing.
Still being circumspect to save my tears.
The song Don’t Believe The Hype comes to mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vQaVIoEjOM
Mourinho is probably in his lair right now plotting like some Mumra to scupper the whole thing. I do like the idea of Arsene Wenger as a Gallic Liono ready to bust his ass though.
This is kind of a big deal. Great bit of business from our club. He’s going to be a real leader from the back and bring a bit of calmness to an, at times, nervous defence.
I still can’t believe Chelsea would allow this deal to go through when he’s got at least 5 good seasons left at the top. What a coup for us and to get it in before July too!
I don’t think it was up to Chelsea to make the decision on whether to retain Cech or not. He was not ready to be the no.2 goalkeeper second season running. Chelsea has two world class goalkeepers, but had not choice but to let one leave for another big club. It’s Cech’s choice and decision to leave for another big club located in London, nothing that Chelsea’s Board of Management can do about it. Arsenal FC is the only club that matches what Cech requires and wants, in order to move on.
Ohh you lovely Friday! You are the best!
Any more news on whether chelskis goal keeping coach will be following cech across London?
On Szczesny vs Ospina and which one stays
I wonder if it’s as simple as Szczesny being an Arsenal fan who is prepared to take the long view, while Ospina is less patient?
Well, he is most certainly a Gooner. That being said, Szczesney doesn’t strike me as the patient type. Staying around to battle with Ospina is one thing; duking it out with Cech is something else entirely. He’s likely to be behind Cech in the pecking order for years to come, and I’m not convinced he’s got the whole “oh imagine what learning from Cech for a few years can do for him” point of view that the fans have. Keep in mind that we’re talking about someone who’s got almost Bendtner levels of confidence here; he’s not likely to be… Read more »
Szszesny has made his own bed, in that even though his skills are still undeniable, a lot of clubs will I’m sure have been put off by the well documented display of idiocy post Southampton. I don’t think he can expect to walk into another top club and expect to be their number 1, and although there are definitely clubs who would bite our hand off to get him as their stopper, they would represent a significant step down for him. If I were his friend, I would council him to stay where he is, learn from a master, work… Read more »
So do I, I’m just not sure he’ll actually do that, given his confidence in his own abilities. He wants to be nr. 1, there’s no doubt about it, and as Geefive points out below he’s already been grumpy before because he wasn’t getting enough game time. With Cech at the club, Szszesny is the guaranteed cup ‘keeper, as Cech is still among the very best.
So what happens to Ospina, sell him off?
I am not confident having Szcz as the backup goalkeeper in case Cech has a considerable period of non-playing time due to injury/suspension. We should give allowance to the risk factor, the probability of Cech not being able to play for a considerable period due to unforseen circumstances.
Ospina is a fantastic goalkeeper who contributed immensely to Arsenal’s achievement in obtaining a better position (3rd) than the previous year’s one in the EPL, despite the disastrous start of the season.
Ravel Morrison has at least two clubs to choose from if reports are to be believed. There are clubs desperate enough sign these players and hope for the best.
It would not surprise me if Martinez is our 2nd choice before long. I think woj would tough out being second choice till next summer then he’ll be off and Wenger will want to give Damien his chance to step up.
Yes, that could very well happen. Neither Szszesny nor Ospina are likely to be happy on the bench for too long.
I think there’s not a lot between them as players, but it’s more Szczeny’s homegrown status that gives him the advantage if it’s one or the other
I seem to recall something like 5 years ago, Chezzers threatening to leave if he didn’t get the game time….he got a contract then. Wonder what’ll happen this time?
Scz is homegrown. That alone is likely to be the deciding factor.
A policy of Homegrown consideration doesn’t necessarily win us games/matches!
If Arsenal wants to compete aggressively with the top teams, then the sentiment of considering/keeping the homegrown player over a better and more beneficial colleague should be discarded.
He looks great on youtube
He’s got a high rating in FIFA too.
His rating on whoscored isn’t so bad either.
I’m worryingly pleased that we’ll (presumably) be back to a 5* team this year. It’s the little things..
One of the worlds best nr.10´s, one of the worlds best wingers/attackers and one of the best worlds goalkeepers signed since that dutch skunk leaves…
not bad for a team with no forward moving vision.
Hope it happens and he has an awesome season and we win the title. That wanker Maureen would cry for years.
I would love to watch john terry slipping into a pool if Maureen’s tears.
Next on the agenda if Arsene wants to challenge is, a challenger for Coquelin or better backup than Arteta and Flamini
You know this guy has won Prem 4 times, FA cups and Champions League and has best goals to game ratio of any keeper in many years. That’s good. He wins games. He’s huge. And he is definitely better than Ospina (who I rather like tbh).
There’s no denying that he is a great goalkeeper. But I wouldn’t go too much into that goals-to-game ratio. He was always protected by 9-10 defenders for at least 88 min of every 90 min he played.
Having said that I’m excited about the signing because he is easily better than what we’ve got right now and he will push Szcz to become the world class goalkeeper we all want him to be.
A good signing, says the experts but I have a niggling feeling ( woman’s intuition). I’m on the Tim Stillman ‘walk the plank’ side and agree that Cech better days are not his future ones….but is still a good signing. No pictures until next week because Stuart is away at Glasto with Mr Kardashian and drinking cider Puma will enjoy designer his special cap. I hope our medical staff do all the test , including the ones Jose Mu may have instructed his players to take. ( injury free all season, puzzling ( alleged) ) I still love Ospina and… Read more »
I just compared this to the last time I cried to the misses, that went down like a lead balloon as it was the birth of my daughter!
Now let’s get Schniederlin!
I don’t think Schniederlin is the answer. He’s a good player but we need someone more in the mould of Coq. Someone whose main focus is on winning the ball back. Obviously they need the technical ability too. Coq’s ball control is exquisite at times. ahem.
Ahem indeed!
Did he not have the most successful tackles and second most successful interceptions in the league year before last? Surprised me but it was deifnitely something like that, SSN were spamming their feed with it when we were linked this time last year.
Umm have you seen Schneiderlin play? He most certainly is a ball winner. On top of that his offensive plays are pretty good, he normally controls the tempo from midfield, keeping the ball moving, much like what Arteta offers us. I’m all in for Schneiderlin if we realistically want to win all 3 competitions.
“if we realistically want to win all 3 competitions”
Mate…
“offensive plays”
God help me.
umm… yes I have. I wouldn’t have voiced an opinion otherwise. Like you say, what he offers is much like what Arteta offers but, in my opinion that’s not what we need. We need someone more aggressive and tenacious. Schneiderlin works in tandem with Wanyama at Southampton and they both take up the defensive slack. Coq works alone. We need someone capable of doing the dirty work on their own. ahem.
Great news. I love Szczesny but I think it would do him some good to watch a living legend in action.
Cechmate
pre-cum
Amongst all the excitment I think credit should be given to Mr Abramovich for keeping true to is word when in the beginning he said he would let Petr choose his own club, even if it was a competitor, unlike his manager JM who as tried to scupper the deal from day one.
credit should be given to abramovic for pissing off mourinho and thus hastening the day he is once again sacked for talking out against the owner
but nothing more than that
But Maureen is right in this case: selling one of your best players to a bitter rival isn’t a smart move. But who cares?
Do you know somebody who did that three years ago ? Lol
@Fatty, ‘who cares?’….. Maureen, that’s who..
Great news! Excited about it. People who are going gaga over ospina’s performances also need to take into account that most of those performances came behind a settled back four i.e if you think about bellerin and Monreal’s performances during that period coupled with Koscielny’s return and emergence of the coq gave a very solid platform for ospina to perform whereas szczesny played most of the season behind a makeshift back four without the coq. I’m not saying that ospina is a bad keeper but that the sample size for judging his performance is small. And from what I have… Read more »
But Szcz had some real howlers in goal – things that he should have covered properly. Ospina was much more solid – very VERY few errors that led to goals. That’s the difference for me…
Refer to the last paragraph in my comment. There have been more mistakes by szczesny because you have seen him around 180 times in goal whereas ospina has played around 20 times. Don’t you think 20 games are a little less to base your opinion on.
Szczesny has been making howlers for years, he’s the goalkeeper equivalent to Bentner crossed with Frimpong and doesn’t have the brains to improve. Ospina came in and did a great job, and is calm and doesn’t spread panic in the defense. Watch back the early games of the season and the easiest shots were going past Szczesny and he wasn’t even moving, and the first shot on target was in. Ospina has done a really good job since he came and I think it’s unfair that people want him shipped off to Turkey as though he did something wrong.
What does one expect from a ‘Bosscielny’? Definitely on the side of Szcz!
Maybe you need to be referred to Ospina’s performances for Colombia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the current Chile Copa America. He was fantastic, the outstanding ‘man of the match’ for the whole 90 minutes during the game against Argentina early hours of this morning.
If we sign Cech then when are we ever going to sign Sebastien Frey?
In other news, John Terry remains a massive c*nt.
Whilst I do feel sorry for Ospina, he has not done his reputation any harm by spending a season with us. I am sure he will get a good deal with a club as their clear No 1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo
Goood,happy with d Cech story bt afraid we might loose Morgan according to d mirror story,hope nd pray its nt true.
Dtz a gd point wt dyu tink bout Spina?
Mi thnkz spina bifida iz a bad thng… but inability to speak in non-text language is even worse.
k
spk prprly pls
Awesome. Just need a DM and striker to give Coq and Giroud some competition whilst getting rid of Joel Campell, Podolski and Sanogo(loan)
I’d try and send Shez out on loan somewhere to rebuild form and confidence (maybe at Southampton where Forster is a long term casualty). Keep Ospina for the time being.
I think it’s better Szczesny stays where he is. He can learn a lot from Cech, and won’t if he’s not here. I think Cech could be a really positive influence and make him a better keeper. I think it would be best to move Ospina on because he deserves first team football, either on loan or permanently. I get the sense with Ospina that he’s as good as he’s ever going to be. Szczesny, I think, has something left in the tank because we’ve seen some great performances from him. He just needs to hit that level consistently and… Read more »
Fantastic news if this deal goes through!
However my caveat is – I won’t believe it until the deal has been announced on Arsenal.com. COYG!
Ozil, Alexis, Welbeck and now Cech. The team is gradually filling up with winners.
Glad about this but sad to see Ospina go
From Almunia to this!!
The last time Wenger went this ruthless and resolute, great things happened.
(not exactly sure what, though 😛 )
Now that the cechbook has finally opened, let’s get a decent ST and a DM to cech any complacency.
Ornstein was the guy who confidently claimed we wouldn’t sign anyone on deadline day last summer…but I hope to God he’s right on this, this Cech thing is driving me nuts now. Whoever handles Arsenal transfers was clearly told the Tortoise and the Hare story one too many times as a child. Hurry the f*** up.
Rüştü is only 42. Could do a job for us for a year easily
I am of the opinion that Arsenal has already have deals in line but waiting for the Cech mate.
Now Arsene, Don’t let that deal of Schneiderlen to United happen. He should be coming to Arsenal.
I think that wenger will go for Carvalho, wenger is a master of transfer confusion, my thinking was he was making interest for Schniederlin to force unated to go for him and buy him early so he can now go on with piece and negotiating a complicated high release clause for Carvalho to be lowered at decent price, because man.utd were also very much interested for Carvalho which made sporting not to low the fee demand, and i think Carvalho will be much more suited for us than Schniederlin, he is a ball winner and has a great technique and… Read more »
Carvalho is stronger from what I’ve seen, but maybe less mobile, and considering we don’t know how he’d take to the Premiership, he wold represent a bigger risk at a (possibly) greater price.
Also, in a straight up choice between Carvalho/Schneiderlin/Vidal then I’d take Vidal in a heartbeat, we can afford to buy him a taxi service.
If I were Wenger, I would not buy a midfielder. One of Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey must put his act together to complement or replace Coquelin to the level required. These three are top midfielders but they have lot of variance in their games during the season. I am aware they have been offensive midfielders so far. I would also try Sanogo in midfield. Agree, disagree for Sanogo in midfield ?
Cech in the house ….
deal suits both we need his experience and he wanted to stay in london and still be with a team that competative, not forgetting martinez he looks to have all the attributest to become a great keeper and is only 23 so he could learn from cech too but hey ho it aint official lets hope it becomes reality
He’s going to turn up for the medical with both arms broken, I just know it!!
Yeah, and on the bandages it simply says: “Regards, Mourinho”
I am not holding my breath but what a signing it would be. I am surprised at the Szcez v Ospina debate, Cech is miles ahead of both in my opinion so I am thrilled. But I think Ospina is not getting enough credit and people have this idea of Sczez’s potential that I fail to see. Sczez is a good keeper but he had been around playing 1st team formal for a long time and we keep waiting for his potential to be unleashed and become “world class”. I don’t see clearly who is a better keeper between him… Read more »
This Rüştü Reçber reference is epic 😀
I think that wenger will go for Carvalho, wenger is a master of transfer confusion, my thinking was he was making interest for Schniederlin to force unated to go for him and buy him early so he can now go on with piece and negotiating a complicated high release clause for Carvalho to be lowered at decent price, because man.utd were also very much interested for Carvalho which made sporting not to low the fee demand, and i think Carvalho will be much more suited for us than Schniederlin, he is a ball winner and has a great technique and… Read more »
Take a breath son! I agree that Carvalho has the most x-factor of the DM’s touted for transfers. He’s got the technique, a great eye for a forward pass and a physical advantage that is invaluable for our league. If we do spend big money on that position, he’s the player with the most potential.
Put it this way, seeing Carvalho lining up for an opponent next season will make me sick – Schneiderlin, not so much.
A solid signing. Just waiting to see him on the .com so we can rest easy.
Appears Morgan Schneiderlin is ManUre bound which isn’t a surprise to me. Wenger would never spend £25m & pay the kind of wages they’re offering him just to give our Coq competition. To be fair, I wouldn’t either.
I do get the logic behind getting him competition but we have enough in the team to adequately back him up. Hands up if you’d be banging for another DM now if Coq had been a £20m signing in January.
A great keeper and signing… i just hope he is not the secret agent that some of my chavkski mates think he is.
Very sad for Ospina….really. I just hope the fans domt get disappoimted with Cech. I am not sure if he still got it as a top GK. Henis good no doubt…but one of the best in the world now? Big big question mark for sure. Ospina did well when he played….maybe some of you influenced by the so called expert commentators & pundits about his height. If I am not mistaken Shilton is not any taller….but he was constantly sold by the English media as one of the best. Why? Coz he is English & Ospina isnt?? I cant really… Read more »
Totally agree, and all this speculation going on while Ospina is at the Copa America isn’t very nice.
He’s had one season as a number 2, the season before he was joint golden glove winner with the Marlborough man…..I reckon we’ll be alright.
“Until Mourinho’s 11th hour intervention which will scupper the whole thing forcing us to bring in Rüştü Reçber once we can agree war-paint terms with him.”
This is fuckin’ brilliant. Hahahaha. Rüştüüüüüüüü!!!!
I hope he removes that helmet when he signs… Seeing him in that motorcycle riders cap is disgusting and it keeps reminding of his days in the enemies camp.