Jose Mourinho praises himself for giving Petr Cech his Chelsea breakthrough after Arsenal goalkeeper retires
Jose Mourinho said it is an “honour” to have been the manager who gave Petr Cech his big Premier League breakthrough after crediting himself while paying tribute to the Arsenal goalkeeper, following his announcement that he will retire at the end of the season.
The 36-year-old Cech, who will turn 37 by the time he hangs up the gloves at the end of the season, was part of Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea sides in 2004/05 and 2005/06 after moving to Stamford Bridge from Rennes.
The former Czech Republic international also won the Premier League in 2009/10 and 2014/15 – the latter under Mourinho during his second spell as manager at Chelsea – before moving to Arsenal where he will call it a day, but Mourinho has recalled his early days in the Premier League when Cech emerged as one of the leading goalkeepers in the world.
"I am honoured to have been the manager that, at such an early age, gave Petr a top Premier League number one shirt,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
"After that day, it is all about him. All about his numbers, his performances, his clean sheets, his titles and his professionalism.
"It's a big loss for football but history can't be deleted. Many congratulations on such an amazing career."
Cech will retire with 20 seasons of professional football under his belt, 15 of which have come in the English top flight, and in a statement released on Tuesday he revealed that his determination this season is to help Arsenal to win silverware in order to bow out on a high.
"Having played 15 years in the Premier League and won every single trophy possible, I feel like I have achieved everything I set out to achieve,” he wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
"I will continue to work hard at Arsenal to hopefully win one more trophy this season.
"This is my 20th season as a professional player and it has been 20 years since I signed my first professional contract, so it feels like the right time to announce that I will retire.
"I am looking forward to seeing what life holds for me off the pitch."
Reports on Wednesday suggest that Cech could yet be offered the chance to remain in football – and return to Chelsea – should he choose to go into coaching, with the London side keeping in regular contact with their former goalkeeper in order to plan a future coaching role for him.
