<h3 style="text-align: justify"><strong><em>Petr Cech has revealed that he could have signed for Arsenal FC in 2002, but, was denied a work permit, so went to Rennes in France instead.</em></strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify">Petr Cech completed his A?10m transfer across London to Arsenal FC, drawing an end to a glittering 11-year career at Chelsea FC.</p> . <p style="text-align: justify">He signed a four-year contract worth a basic A?100,000 a week as per <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jun/29/petr-cech-arsenal-chelsea-transfer">the Guardian</a>, and has revealed that he could have signed for the Gunners long way back if not for a work permit issue.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"> "There was a chance before I went to France to join Rennes for me to sign for Arsenal, but I was only 18 or 19 and, at that time, Czech Republic were not in the European Union," he told the club's official website.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"You needed a work permit and the conditions were that you had to play 75 per cent of the first-team games for the national team, which, at the time, was impossible for me to get. In the end I went to France because I couldn't get a work permit.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"Back then, a few teams were interested in me but Arsenal was one of the main ones. I was so excited because of the Premier League and big clubs coming in for me but unfortunately it was not the time for me to come to England.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"My time was later with Chelsea, and I'm obviously grateful for that, but you never know where you'll end up. Here we are and I hope that I can replicate here everything that I have managed to achieve in the past decade.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"If I could have got my work permit, maybe my story would have been a completely different story but here we are 10 or more years later, and now we can write the story again."</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Well, Arsenal FC's struggles with their goalkeepers post David Seaman era, that was briefly interrupted with Jens Lehmann on board, would have been avoided if not for immigration rules.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Better late than never, though.</p>