Petr Cech has spoken glowingly of his former manager Jose Mourinho.

The 33-year old goalkeeper, who joined Arsenal on Monday, had two successful spells under the Portuguese tactician at Chelsea and has expressed his gratitude towards a man who has done so much for his career.

Mourinho signed Cech from Rennes in 2004 and the gloveman went on to make almost 200 appearances and win seven of his 13 trophies under the tutelage of the Special One.

"He (Mourinho) had to make his decision at the start of last season, I had to make my decision at the start of this season, but I will always keep the best regards for him because I believe that we had so much success and so much respect for each other," said Cech.

"He is one of the best managers in the world. Now, we will be opponents but it will not change our relationship, I believe. "I learned a lot from him and one of those things was that if you have to make a hard decision, you need to make sure that you do it if you believe it is the right choice."