Jose Mourinho sends farewell message to Petr Cech after goalkeeper announces retirement 

What's the story?

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has sent Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech a farewell message following the latter's announcement that he would retire at the end of the season.

In case you didn't know...

Cech announced that he is ready to hang up his gloves at the end of the season in a Twitter statement on Tuesday.

"This is my 20th season as a professional player and it has been 20 years since I signed my first professional contract, so it feels like the right time to announce that I will retire."

"Having played 15 years in the Premier League and won every single trophy possible, I feel like I have achieved everything I set out to achieve."

"I will continue to work hard at Arsenal to hopefully win one more trophy this season."

"I am looking forward to seeing what life holds for me off the pitch."

pic.twitter.com/xRnP0Rnv21

— Petr Cech (@PetrCech) January 15, 2019

The heart of the matter

Mourinho, who managed the Czech international during their trophy-laden stint at Chelsea, has come out with a farewell message for the goalkeeper.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Portuguese manager said, "I am honored to have been the manager that, at such an early age, gave Petr a top Premier League number one shirt."

"After that day, it is all about him. All about his numbers, his performances, his clean sheets, his titles and his professionalism."

"It's a big loss for football but history can't be deleted. Many congratulations on such an amazing career.

What's next?

Cech will see out the rest of the season with Arsenal, despite having gone down in the pecking order under new boss Unai Emery.

The Gunners are struggling to get into the top four following losses to Liverpool and West Ham and have a great test ahead of them with games against Chelsea and a revived Manchester United scheduled next.