Petr Čech could have comfortably sat on the Chelsea bench for the rest of his career, watching Thibaut Courtois play and picking up medals by virtue of having a contract at Stamford Bridge.

But that wasn’t enough for him. The Chelsea legend, now 33, wanted more than that so, against the wishes of José Moruinho, he forced through a move across the city to Premier League rivals Arsenal.

The Premier League campaign hasn’t started as anyone at Arsenal would have hoped but Čech signalled his true arrival with two show-stopping saves to keep Liverpool at bay on Monday night. Now, after a tough opening day of the season saw both Arsenal and Čech disappoint, the goalkeeper is eager to get the title bid back on track.

“We didn’t have the start we would like,” the goalkeeper admitted, “but I still believe we have a bunch of players who are hungry to win trophies.

“After the first three games we have four points but I think there are many positives which we can look forward to in the next games.”

One of those positives was undoubtedly Čech’s display in Monday night’s 0-0 draw, which won Arsenal a point and dispelled any ideas that he’s way past his best. Of course he may not quite be the goalkeeper he once was, but he has a hell of a lot left to offer. That’s lucky, as there’s a long way to go.

“There are 35 more games to be played and there are plenty of points for us to win,” said the Czech international.

Those games start with a trip to Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, where the Gunners will desperately be hoping to continue a good recent record to get things started again in the Premier League.