Jose Mourinho kept a pretty brave face after the confirmation of Petr Cech's move from Chelsea to Arsenal was made, even if it was pretty clear for everyone the transfer was something that did not make the Portuguese too happy – not that it takes too much to get under the skin of the former Real Madrid manager anyway.
Having said all the right things on the club website after the Petr Cech transfer, you always knew Mourinho's true feelings would come to the fore sooner rather than later, because as the Portuguese showed in that completely unnecessary dig at Rafa Benitez, when even remotely provoked, the guns (read mouth) will be at the ready to fire.
In an interview with ESPN, Mourinho, who, if he can refrain from those prickly, unnecessary insults, is such an entertaining man to listen to, made clear what he felt of the Petr Cech transfer to Arsenal, comparing his favourite player to the now Arsenal goalkeeper.
"It's a decision that for example John Terry would never make, because for him it will be impossible to play for another Premier League club," Mourinho said.
The Portuguese was also not too happy to see Frank Lampard play for Manchester City last season, and while he might have had the last laugh with Chelsea pipping City to the Premier League title, things could be different this season, with Arsenal looking, at the very least, primed for a challenge.
Who knows, in another dimension, this transfer might have been opposite, as Wenger pointed out in his press conference on Friday. Arsenal were close to signing Cech, before Chelsea swooped in over a decade ago, with the Czech Republic international going on to become one of the pillars of the team's climb into Europe's elite.
"Before he went to Chelsea we were interested as the guy who brought him to Chelsea is a good friend of mine," Wenger said. "One of the guys who was the agent and he told me there was an exceptional keeper at Rennes.
"He was very young when he went to Rennes. One of my assistants, Boro Primorac, his son was a player in Rennes and he said they had a very good goalkeeper. So we knew, [but] I think Chelsea were a bit quicker than us."
