Chelsea are leaving the door open to a £7 million bid from Arsenal for their veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech, with the player allowed to decide his own future when he has decided his time at Chelsea is done, as reported by the Telegraph.

With Arsenal sniffing around his signature, this means that the Czech international goalkeeper could make the surprise step of moving to Chelsea’s cross-city and Premier League rivals at the the end of the season.

While Cech’s contract with the Blues runs until 2016, there are doubts over whether he will be willing to stay with the club for that length of time.

He has fallen behind Belgian stopper Thibaut Courtois in Jose Mourinho’s pecking order, and he is not thought to be willing to keep sitting on the bench going forward.

Italian sources suggested yesterday that Roma were keen on signing him this month, but Mourinho does not want to part with him right now.

This might mean that the situation plays into Arsenal’s hands come the summer, if they keep chasing him.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told the press that there is no chance Petr Cech will leave Stamford Bridge in January, dealing Arsenal a heavy blow in their hopes of capturing him this month.

Cech has emerged as a target for Arsene Wenger after the French manager has seen Wojciech Sczcesny suffer from a dramatic loss of form, culminating in a pair of terrible mistakes against Champions League rivals Southampton that gifted the Saints a 2-0 victory last week.

The Czech stopper has seen his action reduced massively this season after the return from loan of Thibaut Courtois, who has been made first choice by Mourinho.

As a result, it has been assumed that Cech would move on during the January transfer window, with Arsenal and Wenger thought to be keen on snapping him up.

However, Mourinho has now denied that there is any chance that Cech will leave, especially after Mark Schwarzer moved to Leicester City.

Jose says with Mark Schwarzer leaving, Jamal Blackman returns from loan and there is no chance of Petr Cech leaving. #CFC

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 4, 2015