I went against Roman Abramovich to sign for Arsenal and now I play hockey

Petr Cech has revealed Arsenal's unsuccessful quest for a Premier League title was an inspiration behind his move to the Emirates in 2015 — and that he had to persuade Roman Abramovich to let him leave Chelsea.

The former Czech Republic international spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge after signing in 2004 and enjoyed Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League success during an illustrious career in West London. In 2015, however, Cech departed Stamford Bridge — having spent the majority of the previous season as back up for the up-and-coming Thibaut Courtois — to join Arsene Wenger's side.

The 41-year-old, who immediately established himself as the first-choice and made 34 Premier League appearances in his debut season, has admitted he was desperate to deliver a Premier League title to North London, with the Gunners not lifting the top-flight title since 2003.

«One of the reasons why I wanted to go there is that it was the challenge to bring back the title,» said Cech, speaking on the High-Performance podcast. «That was something I loved and I thought, 'Actually that is my aim to get it there'. They were in the Champions League final, lost it, and that was my motivation in going there and saying 'Okay, these are two trophies they don’t have, it would be brilliant if we can do it.' It was in the moment where the club was again in a strong position in being able to bring players in and the stadium was paid and you started to feel like, that could be a really nice challenge and I really enjoyed it.»

Cech, though, was unable to deliver either Premier League or Champions League glory to the Emirates and left the North Londoners in 2019 with just an FA Cup and a Community Sheild winners' model to show for his efforts.