Arsenal fear Chelsea will try to engineer a move to Paris Saint-Germain for Petr Cech rather than sell him to their Premier League rivals, sources have told ESPN FC.
Cech is expected to leave Chelsea this season after finding himself displaced as No. 1 goalkeeper by Thibaut Courtois after 10 years as first-choice at Stamford Bridge.
The 33-year-old started just six Premier League games this season and the keeper is ready to move on in search of regular first-team football.
The player's agent revealed earlier this month he had been given permission by the club to talk to interested parties about a move for Cech, who would be interested in joining Arsenal, Manchester United or PSG.
However, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has previously admitted he would prefer not to see the Czech go to another Premier League club if he ended up leaving Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho is refusing to give up hope of persuading Cech to stay next season feeling he needs the experienced shot-stopper and Courtois so that Chelsea can compete for all honours on offer next season.
"He's a legend of this club but he's a legend at 32 years old which is a very young legend for a goalkeeper," said Mourinho after last weekend's win over Sunderland.
"The reality is that Petr played lots of matches in every competition so we made him feel important. "I can cope with it, for me it's no problem to have both but obviously I don't know what Petr is thinking."
Mourinho's desire to keep Cech has been echoed by several Chelsea players with Didier Drogba, who is leaving Stamford Bridge this summer, admitting he hopes the keeper will remain at Chelsea.
Cech is in favour of staying in England and London with a move to Arsenal this summer should he leave Chelsea.
However, Arsenal are not optimistic of being able to strike a deal with the Blues for Cech knowing they are reluctant to strengthen one of their potential Premier League title rivals.
That could open the door for PSG to land Cech with the French title winners keen to bring in a new keeper to replace Salvatore Sirigu this summer.