Chelsea give Arsenal target permission to speak to other clubs

Arsenal target Petr Cech’s agent Viktor Kolar has revealed that he has been given permission to speak to any club by current side Chelsea.

Besiktas and Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in the 32-year-old, who has lost his position in the Blues team to Thibaut Courtois this season. The Turkish giants and the French heavyweights were thought to have the advantage in the race to sign the stopper, with Jose Mourinho believed to be keen for his goalkeeper not to move to a Premier League rival.

However, it seems that the Portuguese has allowed the Stamford Bridge favourite to choose where he wants to go.

The Czech Republic international has only played fifteen times in all competitions this season, but the 53-year-old may be letting him go in return for his long service to Chelsea. Cech had been a regular in the side until this campaign, having joined in 2004.

Kolar said: “Petr has a valid contract with his current club, however, I can confirm that we have been permitted by Chelsea to negotiate with interested parties and Petr has confirmed his interest to play regularly at a top club.”

With both Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina making errors during the current campaign, Arseanl are in dire need of better quality between the sticks if they want to challenge for the Premier League title.