Petr Cech says he is taking no notice of speculation linking him with a move away from Arsenal.
Cech has one year left on his contract and has seen Bernd Leno arrive to compete to be first choice.
But the 36-year-old insists he wants to stay.
He said: “I have a contract with Arsenal. I am concentrating on this season, on the competition between the goalkeepers because we have plenty of options.
“I’m doing my best to show to the manager that I can be in the starting lineup when the season starts. “That’s my aim and as for the speculation, I don’t really follow it.”
He is the former captain for the Czech Republic national team. Čech has previously played for Chmel Blšany, Sparta Prague, Rennes and Chelsea. He is the most capped player in the history of the Czech national team with 124 caps, and represented the country at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 European Championships. He was voted into the Euro 2004 all-star team after helping the Czechs reach the semi-finals. Čech also received the individual award of Best Goalkeeper in the 2004–05, 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons of the UEFA Champions League. In addition, he was named in the FIFPro and UEFA Champions League team of the season in 2006. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most respected goalkeepers of his generation.
Čech joined Chelsea in 2004 and made 486 official appearances for the club, making him the club’s highest overseas appearance maker and sixth in its all-time appearances list. With Chelsea, Čech won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Europa League and one UEFA Champions League. Čech kept a club record 220 clean sheets for Chelsea in all competitions.
Čech holds a number of goalkeeping records, including the Premier League record for fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets, having done so in 180 league appearances, the most number of clean sheets in a season (24), as well as the record for the cleanest sheets in Premier League history. At the end of the 2017–18 season, the record stood at 201. During the 2004–05 season, Čech went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal – a Premier League record, until it was surpassed by Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United on 27 January 2009.
Čech is the only goalkeeper to have won the Golden Glove with two separate clubs, winning it a joint record four times; in 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14 and the 2015–16. Additionally, he holds a Czech professional league record of not conceding a goal in 903 competitive minutes, a club record at his former club Sparta Prague, having gone 928 minutes unbeaten in all competitions in 2001–02, when his unbeaten run in the Czech First League was combined with his performances in the Champions League. On top of this he holds the record for the number of Czech Footballer of the Year and Czech Golden Ball wins.
Since his emergence as a precocious talent in his youth, Čech has been considered to be one of the greatest, most consistent, and most respected goalkeepers of his generation.
A tall, athletic, and well-rounded keeper, with a strong mentality and good leadership qualities, throughout his career he has stood out for his reflexes and shot-stopping abilities, as well as his positional sense, concentration, handling when coming off his line to claim crosses, and command of his area.
lthough naturally left-footed, he possesses a deep kick with either foot.