A familiar face returned to Stamford Bridge today as Petr Cech was unveiled as the new Technical and Performance Advisor for Chelsea.
The 37-year-old former goalkeeper announced his retirement from football earlier this year and played his last competitive game for Arsenal in a 4-1 defeat in the Europa League in Baku against his former club Chelsea.
However, before moving to Arsenal in 2015, Cech spent 11 seasons at West London and won 13 major trophies with Chelsea including four Premier League titles and the Champions League. The veteran was widely considered as one of the greatest goalkeepers to ever grace the Premier League as he also helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in 2017.
Cech has now returned to Chelsea and a club statement indicated the former Czech Republic goalkeepers’ role at Stamford Bridge, as he would “provide advice on all football and performance matters”. Cech will also be “facilitating strong links” between the academy and first team”
Upon receiving his job, which will include working closely with Blues director Marina Granovskaia, Cech revealed that he is privileged to receive the opportunity and looking forward to his new challenge, “I feel very privileged to have this opportunity to join Chelsea again and help create the best possible high-level performance environment to continue the success the club has had over the past 15 years, I’m looking forward to the new challenge and hope I can use all of my football knowledge and experience to help the team achieve even more success in the future.”
Cech could also be working closely with his former teammate Frank Lampard, who is in line to become the next Chelsea manager. But Chelsea will be unable to sign any new players for the next two transfer windows as they have received a transfer ban by FIFA.
