With the arrival of 27-year-old goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, veteran shot-stopper Petr Cech is expected to face another challenge in his long, illustrious career and that is to keep himself fit and firing in order to seal his place in the Arsenal goal next season.
As reported by The Sun, the Serie-A giants AS Roma are believed to be interested in bringing the Czech Republic international to Italy. Roma have lost their first-choice shot-stopper Alisson Becker at the hands of English Premier League side Liverpool in a £67m deal as the Brazilian goes down in the history books as the most expensive goalkeeper to be playing in the modern game.
Roma are on the back foot having parted ways with Alisson and would like to bring in an experienced replacement to fill the gaping void left in front of goal. The Italian club’s sporting director Monchi believes that his team is at a loss following the departure of Alisson and need someone who has played the game at the very top level, to shepherd a young defence line from conceding goals.
Arsenal will do well to hold on to Cech as they are in need of squad depth if they are serious about competing for silverware in this coming season. They have the option of Leno at goal but the German international is new to the English game and doubts linger over the fact whether the keeper will adjust in time before the start of the season.
Cech brings stability at goal and can single-handedly rescue his team from defeat. A keeper of his standards is necessary to remain at the club even if it means a place in the starting 11 will have to be fought for. Cech will be able to guide Leno during his first season in England and will also learn from the comparatively young keeper, in return.
The Czech stopper is also believed to have turned down a move to Napoli of Italy but might yet be tempted to abandon ship if Roma are will to provide him with his personal needs. He was also linked with a sensational return to Stamford Bridge with Chelsea but his agent broke the ice by confirming that Big Pete is focused solely on performing well with this new Arsenal set-up.
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The Gunners must do all that they can to hold on to Cech as keepers of his legendary status are hard to come by.
