21 October 2020
Didier Drogba has joked that he is heading back to Chelsea training after seeing Petr Cech return to the Blues’ Premier League squad this season.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper was a surprise inclusion in Chelsea’s Premier League squad announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The Czech veteran was named alongside the three senior ‘keepers at Stamford Bridge – Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero – as ’emergency goalkeeper cover’.
The club confirmed: ‘This is a precautionary step due to the unprecedented conditions currently caused by the Covid-19 crisis.’
However, Cech may not be expecting to play, but Drogba wants in on the action and is threatening to turn up at training in hope of a game.
In response to the news of Cech’s involvement, the 42-year-old Ivorian tweeted: ‘I’m already on my way to Cobham.’
Drogba has missed the boat for this season, unfortunately, with the announcement yesterday coming as the deadline passed.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard went into some detail as to why he included Cech in the squad, describing the decision as a ‘no-brainer.’
‘Pete’s been training with the goalkeepers for a little while,’ explained Lampard.
‘He spends a lot of days with them, which is invaluable for his experience, helps us in training, helps me to know that he’s passing on that quality and experience to the goalkeepers.
‘We had a spare space in the squad, we know this year is like no other because of Covid and what it might do to selection and isolation through the year. So it was a very easy one. Pete still does his day job but he’s there if we need him.’
Asked what shape Cech is in, and how likely he is to play, Lampard continued: ‘In terms of where Pete is at, yeah he’s fit. He’s very fit.
‘He’s still relatively young, Pete finished playing possibly when he could have kept carried on playing. He’s taken on his role at Chelsea, which he does very well and is very helpful to me and we work very closely together.
‘But he trains very regularly, he’s fit and whether we’ll see much of him this season I’m not sure. As I mentioned before, it depends on how the season goes with Covid and isolation.
‘We felt – or certainly I felt – that it was a no-brainer to have Pete in the squad for that reason.
‘And it also helps me that he trains every day, when he’s in such good form it can only help the goalkeepers we have to see one of the world’s best in recent years, in the modern era, amongst us.’
Source: The Metro