Mathieu Flamini “surprised” Jose Mourinho allowed Petr Cech’s Arsenal move

Cech arrived at Emirates Stadium in an £11m deal from Premier League champions Chelsea earlier this month after he won his fourth English top-flight crown.

Chelsea are in the market for another left-back following Filipe Luis’ return to Atletico Madrid, and Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri has conceded that the club will struggle to keep hold of the Algeria worldwide.

“His side may still be favourites, but they will have to play better and work harder than they did a year ago. It’s a great example”, he added.

Mourinho, however, expects the Gunners to challenge for the title this season after assembling a squad that contains the likes of 42 million pounds ($65.54 million) playmaker Mesut Ozil and 35 million pounds forward Alexis Sanchez. These are players who can make the difference at any moment.

Chelsea captain John Terry has admitted the Community Shield match against Arsenal on Sunday 2 July is going to “have a little bit more spice” than a normal London derby due to the presence of Petr Cech playing for the Gunners.

“I believe he will have a future at Arsenal“, the manager said of the Polish worldwide. He’s a competitor and usually doesn’t like to sell any players to his rivals. “We have been lucky”. “So I think we have a very good chance”.

“It’s very important. Not only for his quality but also for his character”, added Flamini.

“Leaders on the pitch make the difference”. So, for us, Petr Cech is a top signing. Not only when things go well but especially when things go bad. It could be a key move for us as well and not just because Lollichon has a close and happy working relationship with Cech, who he worked with in the keeper’s formative years at Rennes and then since 2007 at Stamford Bridge. “He is someone with character, someone with a winning mentality”.