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Arsenal Weekly: Petr Cech exclusive

Per Mertesacker and Petr Cech

Petr Cech has seen some “special qualities” in the Arsenal squad since his arrival at the club this summer.

The Czech international has made a big impression since he moved to north London after 11 successful years at Chelsea.

Cech was already an admirer of his new team-mates, but appreciates them even more now that he sees them on a daily basis.

“There are a number of players here that you play against and you know that the player has great technique, great passing, and so on,” he told the Arsenal Weekly podcast. “But then you train with them and you see them play, and you realise that some of them have really special qualities.

“If you see Santi playing in very tight places and always finding a solution, you just think, ‘Wow, how does he do that?’ because it’s one thing you didn’t know he could do.

“People always speak about Mesut and the way he has great passing ability. He has but when you see him running, it’s not only about his passing. He’s a far more complete player than just his passing.

“You are aware of certain things when you play against players, but when you play with them you realise they are really important.

“When you play against Per, you know that he’s tall and that if you go in the air you might not have a chance to get past him, but it’s not only about his stature. He has fantastic reading of the game so he’s in the right places for most of the time and that’s why he’s playing at this level.

“I could go on. We would spend an hour on this because you find out other things about everybody.”