Petr Čech has decided against joining Napoli on a year-long loan, despite the arrival of new Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno, according to reports in Italy.

Calciomercato report that Čech has given his answer to Napoli, after they offered him the chance to join them on loan next season. They reportedly failed to convince the goalkeeper with their proposal, despite their ‘concrete’ attempts to bring him to Italy.

It’s relatively surprising that Čech seems to have decided against the chance to join a top European club with Champions League football. Arsenal have just announced the signing of Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, with the 26-year-old strongly expected to take over the number one spot in North London.

It won’t be easy for the former Chelsea man to keep his place in the team, especially under a new manager. He was a key player for Arsenal last season, making 38 appearances, but that’s unlikely to happen again in 2018/19.

However, as we pointed out yesterday, even if the move would’ve made some sense for the goalkeeper himself, it doesn’t make as much for Arsenal.

Cech’s current contract with the club only lasts until 2019 anyway. By the time the 36-year-old returned from loan he would be available on a free transfer, so it would preferable for the Gunners to sell.

Perhaps his rumoured decision is based on other factors. The goalkeeper has a family in London after all, so he may not want to leave the country at this stage. We’ll see how things pan out for him over the remainder of the summer.