Petr Cech to Arsenal: Gunners lead chase for £7m Chelsea goalkeeper - reports

Long-serving keeper wants to leave Stamford Bridge after losing No 1 shirt

(Getty Images)

Arsenal are the favourites to sign Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech but will face competition from a number of clubs around Europe.

The long-serving Czech keeper lost his starting place to Belgian prodigy Thibaut Courtois at the start of the season and is unhappy as understudy.

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are in pole position to sign the 32-year-old for £7million, but Liverpool, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Roma have all shown an interest in him.

After 10 years as Chelsea No 1, where he kept more than 200 clean sheets, Cech has just four matches for the Blues this season - two in the Capital One Cup and two in the Champions League - and played in one Premier League game, coming on for Courtois in the win against Arsenal.

Jose Mourinho made Thibaut Courtois the No 1 this season (Getty Images)

Cech has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge all summer and speculation has only increased since Jose Mourinho opted to hand Courtois the No 1 spot in the first game of the season against Burnley.

However, Cech's agent Viktor Kolar said the keeper may have to wait until next summer to leave the club.

"In the football world you can never rule out anything definitively, however if you put together the facts with Petr's ambitions of a top-class goalkeeper, you will not be left with too many options," Kolar told Czech media.

"If we add to this the actual little need of these few clubs to search a new goalkeeper in the winter's transfer window, then you will find out that the chance of a transfer in the next weeks or months is not very high."