Arsenal open talks with Chelsea to secure summer move for Petr Cech

Arsenal have opened talks with Chelsea for a move for Petr Cech in the summer, according to the Daily Mirror.

The report states that Paris Saint Germain have joined the race for his signature, but the Czech Republic international is believed to be favouring a move to the Emirates, with his family stationed happily in London. Manchester United are also believed to be interested as they look for a replacement for David de Gea.

Jose Mourinho is against the move for obvious reasons, but reports suggest that Roman Abramovich has given Cech his word over deciding his next club and the Portuguese manager can do nothing to avert a transfer, like he did with Demba Ba last summer.

A deal is expected to be finalised for a fee in the range of £10m ($15.5m), a miniscule amount for a player who has won the Premier League title and the Champions league with the Blues. His addition will add experience and a winning mentality to the Gunners, who have gone 11 years without winning the title and in spite of winning the FA Cup last season, are still short on players who have won major honours.

Wenger is keen to buy a number one who can challenge Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina for the starting spot after both players failed to live up to expectations this season. Szczesny has been a liability, making a myriad of errors, more notably on New year's Day against Southampton where he gifted the opposition two goals.

Ospina has been an able replacement but was found out in their game against Swansea, when he failed to keep an innocuous header out of the net, which cost the Gunners the game. The loss has all but cost the north London club a top two spot, with Manchester City overtaking them in the race behind Chelsea.

Wenger has revealed that he will be in the market for a defensive midfielder to complement Francis Coquelin, who has played every game since coming back into the team.