Frank Lampard has included 38 years old, Petr Cech in the Premier League squad of 25 players as ’emergency goalkeeper cover.’ Cech has retired from professional football in 2019 and joined the coaching staff of Chelsea last year as a technical and performance advisor following his retirement.
Cech has been training with the club in recent weeks and he is now the fourth goalkeeper in the Chelsea roster joining the likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, and Willy Caballero.
‘Pete’s been training with the goalkeepers for a little while now. I think that was pretty much common knowledge, and he is training a lot of days with them which is invaluable for their experience,’ Lampard said as per the Official Chelsea site.
‘It helps with their training and it helps me to know that he is passing on that quality and experience to the goalkeepers. We had a space in the squad, we know this year looks like no other because of Covid and what it might do to selection and isolation through the year, so it was a very easy decision. Pete still does his day job but he is there if we need him.
‘He is very fit, he is still relatively young, he probably could have carried on playing. He has taken on his role at Chelsea which he does very well, he is very helpful to me and we work very closely. Whether we will see him much this season I am not sure.’
‘It depends on how the season goes and on Covid and isolation, but I certainly felt it was a no-brainer to have Pete in the squad for that reason. It can only help the goalkeepers we have to see one of the world’s best in the modern era amongst us,’ Lampard added.
Petr Cech joined Chelsea in 2004 at a fee of £7 million and since then he has played 11 years in the Chelsea shirt. In his total tenure, he has made 494 appearances for the blues and has Chelsea’s highest number to make overseas appearances.
He has won one UCL, four EPLs, four FA Cups, and three League Cups for Chelsea while having an all-time record of 228 clean sheets for Chelsea.
In 2015, he departed Chelsea and joined Arsenal at a £10 million fee where he again won a FA Cup before taking retirement in 2019.
Petr Cech was undoubtedly one of the best keepers in the world during his time in Stamford Bridge and has been called upon once again to serve the badge. As per Lampard, he is chosen as an emergency goalkeeper cover and takes up a position as a non-contract player.
