Jose Mourinho has praised Chelsea for the way they allowed Petr Cech to join Arsenal after 11 years of service at Stamford Bridge.
As part of a goodwill gesture from Blues owner Roman Abramovich, the Czech goalkeeper, 33, was allowed to decide his own destination from the teams interested in him.
"I support the owner's decision to honour the player in this way,'" Mourinho said on chelseafc.com.
"Petr has been a great servant for Chelsea for 11 years and helped this club to win almost everything there is to win.
"I always said I wanted him to stay but I understand Petr needed to move on to play first team football every week.
"Sometimes you have to respect the wishes of someone who has earned so much respect with his service and actions for your club.
"It is very rare in football to make a decision like this and for that reason I am proud of my club for making it.
"There are not many clubs in the world big enough to be able to make that decision.
"Petr's success at this club will always to be remembered and we thank him for everything he did."
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