Petr Čech '100% Ready' to Make Chelsea Return if Needed
By Tom Gott
Chelsea director Petr Čech has insisted that he remains good enough to make an impact in the Premier League after being surprisingly included in the Blues' 25-man squad this season.
Čech retired from playing at the end of the 2018/19 season to return to Chelsea as a technical and performance advisor, but he was recently included in Frank Lampard's squad as 'emergency cover' during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Édouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero all remain ahead of Čech in the pecking order, but the 38-year-old told Téléfoot that he is still '100% ready' to return to the pitch if Chelsea ever find themselves in a crisis.
"When we named our Premier League squad, we found there was a free space," Čech began. "We had a meeting to discuss what to do, whether to put another player into the squad or something else to handle the situation.
"We reached an agreement with the manager that if there's an instance in which there's a problem with the goalkeepers - whether they're injured or isolating or whatever - I can help the team if needed.
"It’s true that it would have been a professional error to do this if I wasn’t at Premier League level, but that’s not the way we work here. I know I’m 100% ready to help if needs be. I’m fit, and with the two months of training, I’ve seen I have the same quality.
"I rested for a year without playing football. It really gave me energy, my body recovered after playing 20 years as a professional. If the circumstances put me on the pitch, I’m ready.”
Every Chelsea fan would love to see Čech don his scrum cap once more, but in the meantime, the focus at Stamford Bridge remains on Mendy, whom Čech recommended be signed this summer to replace the struggling Arrizabalaga.
'Big Pete' and even bigger Edouard! ? pic.twitter.com/2YGCFVmhnX
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 25, 2020
Mendy's clean sheet in Saturday's 3-0 win was his third in his first three Premier League appearances, making him the first Chelsea goalkeeper to manage such a feat since Čech himself in the 2004/05 season.
The Senegal international has made six appearances in all competitions since joining from Rennes in the summer, and after conceding in his debut against Tottenham Hotspur, he is currently on a run of five consecutive shut-outs - the kind of record Čech would be proud of.