Petr Cech to take a job with Chelsea next season

We all knew when Petr Cech was signed for Arsenal back in 2015 that he was essentially a Chelsea-for-life kind of guy. He had spectacular success, winning literally every trophy Chelsea were eligible for while he was there (except the Club World Cup, I guess, but when was the last time anyone ever gave even the remotest crap about that), and in doing so, generally cemented himself as a legend at Chelsea.

Which is why it should come as no surprise that Cech, who announced in January that he would retire from playing this summer, would take up a position at Chelsea once his playing days are done. What is a surprise is the timing of the announcement of his hire. With the Europa League final a week away, Chelsea announced today that Cech has been appointed sporting director of the club. As the report detailing this announcement notes,

It is not clear at this stage exactly what responsibilities Cech will have, but he could share some of the burden in terms of recruitment and bridging the gap between the board and the manager.

It’s not quite known whether Unai Emery is planning on starting Cech or not, or if this announcement changes his plans, but I do wonder if that enters into his thinking at all. I mean, on the one hand, it’s a bit of a conflict of interest, but on the other hand, Cech is still employed by Arsenal, and is a professional, so if he does start I wouldn’t expect him to do anything other than what he normally does, which is give 100% for Arsenal. I guess we’ll see on Wednesday.