Marek Cech keen on switch to Premiership

Porto defender admits Newcastle move would tempt him

FC Porto’s left-back Marek Cech is attracting the interest of Premiership clubs Newcastle and Wigan, but it is the former that most interests the Slovakian.

Cech, who has recently regained the left-back berth with the Portuguese champions, has expressed his desire to make the jump to the Premiership, although he was quick to add that he is more than happy with Porto.

“I would welcome the opportunity to taste the Premier League, which is definitely of a higher quality than the Portuguese league,” Cech said in an interview given to Pravada, a newspaper from his homeland.

“Perhaps I will move to Newcastle. But I would only leave Porto if I received a really good offer.”

“I’m trying to find a way to take that next step in my career and I do not feel that Newcastle are a step higher than Porto in terms of football hierarchy. Porto win trophies, participate in the Champions League and have even won it.”

It was believed that former Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce rated the defender very highly, but since the Magpies switched managers Cech believes that any move is now down to the opinion of new manager Kevin Keegan.

“The problem now is that they have changed managers and it is difficult to predict what the new manager’s ideas are. I have established myself at Porto in these last two and a half years and I do not want to make a move that leads to uncertainty.”