Petr Cech has revealed that he almost joined Arsenal 13 years ago.
The 33-year-old has moved to the Emirates Stadium from Chelsea after losing his spot as first-choice goalkeeper to Thibaut Courtois at Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners were keen to sign the Czech international in 2002, but manager Arsene Wenger had to pull out of the deal for the then Sparta Prague stopper due to problems with a work permit, with Cech moving on to Rennes and then Chelsea.
"There was a chance before I went to France that I could sign for Arsenal but I was only 18 or 19 and at that time Czech Republic were not in the European Union," Cech told the London Evening Standard.
"You needed a work permit and the conditions were to play 75 per cent of the first-team games for the national team, which at the time was impossible for me to get. In the end I went to France because I couldn't get a work permit.
"I had a few teams who were interested but Arsenal was one of the main ones. I was so excited because of the Premier League and big clubs but unfortunately it was not the time for me to come. It was later with Chelsea, and I'm obviously grateful for that, but you can never prepare the ways in your life and you'll never know where you'll end up. So here we are."
Cech had been with Chelsea since 2004.
Steven Toplis
