Much ink has been spilled lately to discuss the impending battle for the Chelsea goalkeeper slot. The duel will take place between Peter Cech, who currently serves as Chelsea's goalkeeper (and who has done an admirable job at making saves and keeping 
sheets clean in recent years) and Thibaut Courtois, who is set to return to Stamford Bridge this summer after three years spent on loan at Atletico Madrid. However, while both goalkeepers are bright talents in the football world, they are merely two pieces of what has become a strong legacy of defense for the Chelsea goalkeeper shirt.
You can find that goalkeeper shirt, along with numerous other Chelsea soccer jerseys, on the Soccer Box online store. The goalkeeper jersey is a reddish orange long-sleeved shirt that complements Chelsea's usual blue color scheme nicely. Like the rest of Chelsea's football merchandise, the shirt was made by Adidas, and features the Adidas logo, the Chelsea crest, and the logo of team sponsor, Samsung.
Choosing a Goalkeeper
In deciding who will wear the Chelsea goalkeeper shirt during the upcoming Premier League season, Chelsea officials are in a difficult position, but it is also an enviable one. Either Peter Cech or Thibaut Courtois would be right at home on Chelsea's starting line-up, and both are among the finest goalkeepers in all of professional football. In other words, Chelsea can hardly go wrong.
Still, the choice of who will start for the Chelsea soccer jerseys is a difficult one for several reasons.
On one hand, Cech is an incredibly skilled player who has done good work for Chelsea for years, ever since coming to the club in 2004. The 2013 2014 season was one of the best of his career, meaning that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho might feel uncomfortable about displacing Cech given such a strong performance. Add the fact that fans love Cech, and it's easy to imagine the Czech goalkeeper sticking around Chelsea's starting line-up for years to come.
On the other hand, Cech is 32 and now has more years behind him than he does ahead of him, as far as his professional football career is concerned. Thibaut Courtois, meanwhile, has performed just as well as Cech over the past few seasons. He was one of the stars of the Belgium national team at the World Cup this summer, and is 10 years younger. In other words, Courtois is still at the beginning of his professional career, while Cech is likely nearing the latter years of his.
Given these factors, choosing which man will wear the Chelsea goalkeeper shirt this season becomes a bona-fide dilemma for Mourinho and other team officials. Do they respect Cech and the years of service he has given to the team by allowing him to stay on as the starting goalkeeper? Or do they make an investment in the future by promoting Courtois before another team scoops him up?
Chelsea's Impressive Goalkeeper History
If Peter Cech does exit from Chelsea this season, he will go down in history as the greatest goalkeeper to ever play for the storied English club. However, numerous great goalkeepers have worn Chelsea soccer jerseys over the years, and Courtois would be lucky to join the tradition.
For instance, Cech's two immediate predecessors as Chelsea's top goalkeeper, Ed De Goey and Carlo Cudicini, were both skilled players who set the bar high for Cech and everyone to follow. De Goey, who played with Chelsea from 1997 to 2003, made over 120 appearances in six seasons, keeping nearly 50 clean sheets in that span.
Cudicini, meanwhile, was even better. Joining Chelsea in 1999 and sticking around until 2009, Cudicini was incredibly valued by fans and football experts alike. In the 2001 2002 season, he was voted by fans to be the Chelsea Player of the Year. This is a feat that was expanded upon the next year when he was dubbed the finest goalkeeper in all of the Premier League. Cech might have bested his legacy, but Cudicini helped build the Chelsea goalkeeper tradition that continues to burn brightly today.
Are you hoping Cech sticks around for a few more years, or are you ready to see Courtois play a leading role at Stamford Bridge? Either way, grab a Chelsea goalkeeper shirt today from Soccer Box, and enjoy the upcoming season.
