Chelsea transfer news: Petr Cech ready to battle with Thibaut Courtois for spot as first-choice goalkeeper

Blues keeper keen to keep his place in Mourinho's starting eleven

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has said that he has no intention of losing his place in the starting line-up to Thibaut Courtois.

It's been a decade since Cech signed at Stamford Bridge for £7m from Rennes, becoming the club's most expensive goalkeeper in their history, and immediately he deposed Carlo Cudicini.

Later setting a new Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal, the 32-year-old's place is now under considerable threat with Courtois returning from a loan spell with Atletico Madrid.

“I don’t want to be on the bench,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “This is why I am trying to do everything to be in the team.

"But I don’t want to talk about ifs and buts. Let’s see how I am going and what happens. All I have under control is my own performance on the pitch and the way I have to play.

"Everything else is out of my hands. I know what I have to do."

Cech had suffered with a dislocated shoulder towards the end of last season and, in an attempt to stay ahead of the game, cancelled his holiday plans this summer to prepare for the upcoming campaign.

Jose Mourinho, the Blues manager, may opt to rotate the two keepers much like Carlo Ancelotti has at Real Madrid. Diego Lopez was utilised as the first-choice shot-stopper in La Liga while Iker Casillas guarded the net in the Champions League.

"Mourinho will make his choice", he continued, "and decide how his team is going to look for the first game, second game, third game, whatever game.

“It is up to us players to show we are ready to play and make him pick us. I am not any different. I am doing everything I can to make him pick me."