Super Eagles captain and former Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has paid tributes to his former Chelsea FC teammate Petr Cech who announced his intention to retire from football at the end of the 2018/2019 English Premier League season.
Mikel and Cech played together at Chelsea from 2006 to 2015 before the Cech Republic legend departed the club for London rivals Arsenal in the summer of 2015 after 11 years of competitive football for the London blues.
Mikel on his social media handle (Instagram) praised the Arsenal shots stopper who has played 20 years of highly competitive football and 15 years of those in English football. “It has been an honour to have played and won so many trophies with you @petrcech #Cookingrematch Good luck.”
Cech joined Arsenal from London rivals Chelsea in 2015 where he spent 11 successful years winning four premier league titles, the UEFA Champions league, Europa league and went on to win the FA Cup with the gunners in 2017.
Announcing his proposed retirement on his social media accounts on Tuesday morning, the former Cech Republic goalkeeper who had 124 caps for the national team. ” “This is my 20th season as a professional player and it is 20 years since I signed my first professional contract, so it feels like the right time to announce that I will retire at the end of this season.
“Having played 15 years in the Premier League and won every single trophy possible, I feel like I have achieved everything I set out to achieve. I will continue to work hard at Arsenal to hopefully win one more trophy this season, then I am looking forward to seeing what life holds for me off the pitch.”
