Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has insisted that the Blues do not miss the presence of goalkeeper Petr Cech in their squad. Cech’s main rival at Chelsea, Thibaut Courtois, was sent off in Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Swansea, something that led to the introduction of summer signing Asmir Begovic.

The Czech Republic international played 16 times for the Blues last season and had been at Stamford Bridge 11 years. He has made more than 300 Chelsea appearances and won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one Champions League and one Europa League title.

However, Belgium international Thibaut Courtois became something of a sensation last season after knocking Cech off the starting XI. This meant that Cech looked to leave Chelsea after more than a decade at the club, with one year left on his deal. Mourinho was reluctant to allow Cech to leave, and was even more stubborn about a move to a Premier League rival. But Arsenal secured the £11m deal, and were given a huge boost in their league title chances.

Mourinho though, believes that the two keepers Chelsea have in their ranks are more than good enough for them to forget about Cech:

“We don’t miss Petr.” Mourinho said.

“We’ve got a good keeper, the problem with Petr is not that we miss him because we have two excellent keepers.

“The problem with Petr is that an opponent is better than before.”

“Thibaut and Asmir are two fantastic keepers. My club did very well by getting a keeper on time and not on the August 31.”

“If my club gives me a keeper on August 31, then we have a problem not just for today but also for the next match. Unless the people understand that it’s not a red card and they clear the suspension.”

[Quotes via Goal]