Things are on the up for Arsenal, as Mikel Arteta has his sights set on securing the club their first Premier League title since 2004 after falling short last season.
The Spaniard has unearthed the next generation of heroes at the Emirates, nurturing his young squad to become some of the best on show in Europe with Champions League football restored.
Returning to the class of Europe’s elite was a high point for the Gunners in the 2022/23 campaign, however the vast signs of progression within the team were overcast by missing out on the league title by five points.
All in all, Arsenal have taken a turn for the better after a testing few years at the club, where players have come and gone without hitting the heights that have been met by Arteta’s stars of today.
The north Londoners underwent a spell of mediocrity by their standards, highlighted by their change in the trajectory of activity in the transfer market, with Arsenal now looking like the place to be rather than a place to end up.
There were many transfers that epitomised the lack of pull at times at the Emirates, with one notably being an absolute fail as Arsenal hoped to make one club's trash their treasure.
When did Arsenal sign Petr Cech?
In the summer of 2015, it was announced that Arsenal had agreed a deal to sign Chelsea legend Petr Cech from the Blues.
The goalkeeper, who signed at 33 years old, had spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge and had won most domestic accolades available during his tenure.
It wasn’t the first time that the Blues had exchanged business with Arsenal, as Cech joined a host of players that had made the move from west to north London, a list that now sits at eight players long.
Players that have directly moved from Chelsea to Arsenal
William Gallas
2006
Lassana Diarra
2007
Yossi Benayoun
2011
Petr Cech
2015
David Luiz
2019
Willian
2020
Jorginho
2023
Kai Havertz
2023
From the Champions League to four Premier League titles, Cech arrived at Arsenal as one of the most decorated players in England, but his £10m arrival was a sign of the difference in outlook between the Blues and the Gunners.
The 6 foot 5 shot stopper had run his course at the Bridge, and his time was up as Chelsea saw Thibaut Courtois as their number one, handing their rivals their leftovers to attempt to make something good from it.
How good was Petr Cech?
Having secured 494 appearances for the west Londoners, the Czech Republic international had managed to keep a phenomenal 228 clean sheets throughout his time with the Blues.
Cech conceded just 393 goals during his 11 seasons at the club, an impeccable feat for a goalkeeper who was consistently regarded as one of the best in Europe, supported by his four Golden Glove wins in the Premier League.
The consistency of Cech’s level of performance was made even more remarkable by the fact his career was almost cut short in 2006, suffering an injury that could have cost more than his time as a player.
In a match up against Reading, the legendary shot-stopped was involved in a costly collision, seeing him suffer a life-threatening skull fracture, which resulted in him having two metal plates fitted into his skull during emergency surgery.
Three months later, the keeper returned to training sporting a protective skull cap that became a trademark in the Premier League and a badge of bravery and resilience to continue playing the sport.
From his heroics at the 2012 Champions League final, handing Chelsea their first win of the prestigious prize, to his impeccable reliability between the sticks for over a decade, Cech was wished well as he endeavoured on a new challenge in north London.
While the 124-cap international will forever be remembered as one of the best to play in the Premier League, his time at Arsenal was far from the glitz and glamour of his time at Stamford Bridge.
How did Petr Cech perform at Arsenal?
Arsenal were aware that they’d signed a Chelsea veteran in 33-year-old Cech, however the limited version of the goalkeeper they had purchased was a shell of the colossus that charmed the Blues.
To put into perspective just how poor the Premier League legend’s time was in north London, he kept just 54 clean sheets in 139 appearances for the Gunners, conceding 158 goals in that time.
Considering that Cech had conceded 101 goals fewer than his total number of appearances for Chelsea, it was new territory for him to be so exposed between the posts, as Arsenal quickly realised they hadn’t signed the hero that had previously been on show in England.
Petr Cech's career record at Arsenal and Chelsea
Arsenal
Chelsea
Appearances
139
494
Clean Sheets
54
228
Goals conceded
158
393
Figures via Transfermarkt
In a wider perspective, prior to his move to the Emirates, the most goals the keeper had conceded in a Premier League season was the 39 he let in during the 2011/12 campaign.
His worst record was quickly updated in north London, as he saw 48 goals go past him in the 2017/18 campaign at the Emirates, signalling the drop off in his game and the challenges he was presented with in Arsene Wenger’s side.
Once described as being “terrible with his feet” and even “worse with his hands” by media network Men in Blazers, Cech’s reputation at Arsenal was far from his at Chelsea as it became increasingly obvious that the keeper was nearing expiration.
On the back of his high-conceding tally in 2017/18, the shot-stopper – who was also dubbed "terrible" at one stage by journalist Phil McNulty – fell down the pecking order to Bernd Leno, who was signed in the summer of 2018, all but confirming the end of his playing career.
In 2019, Cech retired from football, and returned to west London to be named Chelsea’s Technical and Performance Advisor, with his heart firmly at Stamford Bridge after his woeful spell at Arsenal.
How much did Petr Cech cost Arsenal?
Despite arriving at the Emirates past his prime, the Gunners handed the then 33-year-old a salary that matched the one he’d received at Chelsea.
Picking up £100k-per-week during his first two seasons at Arsenal, his salary was boosted to £110k-per-week in his final two campaigns, taking his total earnings in north London to almost £22m, via Capology.
What is Petr Cech doing now?
Cech’s time as Technical and Performance Advisor ended in 2022, as the scene higher up at the club changed dramatically when Todd Boehly took the hot seat.
After dedicating his life to sport, it wasn’t an option for the goalkeeper to hang up his boots to adhere to his business duties, as he instead opted to pick up his skates and play ice hockey.
In 2019, Cech joined division two NIHL side Guildford Phoenix, where he assumed the role of goaltender and subsequently added to his career accolades by winning the treble with the Phoenix in 2021/22.
This summer, the 41-year-old joined Oxford City Stars, where he was this month commended for his performances and handed man of the match for making 62 saves from 64 shots in a game, via the Daily Mail.
From Premier League hero, to Arsenal zero, to ice hockey sensation, Cech has lived the highest of highs in his sporting career, with plenty of time for the decorated shot-stopper to widen his achievements on the ice.