Following the departure of Petr Cech to local rivals Arsenal for a fee of £10 million early in the summer, Chelsea decided to replace the stopper with Asmir Begovic.
Having been on the club's radar for numerous years, Begovic was Jose Mourinho's first choice.
Chelsea have been looking to secure the signing of the Bosnian international for several years having several bids rejected in 2010 by Stoke City, who turned down an offer of £4.5 million. The Premier League champions originally had wanted him to be the back up for Cech himself, and now Begovic finally joins the London outfit replacing the former Champions League hero.
The interest in the deal came from both sides as Begovic himself reportedly wanted to sign for Chelsea when the original offer was made five years ago, even going to the extremes of refusing to play in Stoke's Carling Cup game against Shrewsbury. However the club refused to sell and he has proven to be a pivotal part of the team, seeing the club now make nearly double the original offer.
Was Begovic the right choice?
Begovic has been one of the most consistent and quality goalkeepers in the Premier League during his spell at Stoke City, continually putting in man of the match performances. His performances for the Potters has never appeared to fade, finding himself as first choice goalkeeper throughout his time, even picking up the club's Player of the year award in 2013.
Even with Begovic being one of the standout goalkeepers in football today and having been noticed by the club previously, it was no guarantee that he would be the goalkeeper to replace club legend Cech. With the financial backing Chelsea boast and the ability to provide European football, Mourinho would have potentially found it easy to convince many goalkeepers in the game today to join the club.
Replacing someone of Cech's nature was never going to be an easy decision, last season Chelsea were lucky enough to have two of the league's most talented shot stoppers. With the blues entering the season attempting to defend their title, nothing less than an excellent number two would suffice.
Having two world class goalkeepers has arguably been one of Chelsea's major weaknesses during the club's most successful years. Until the arrival of Thibaut Courtois the club has always struggled to find someone on Cech's level. With previous back up goalkeepers such as Ross Turnbull and Henrique Hilario, the faith wasn't high when Cech wasn't around.
With Begovic's Premier League experience and his proven ability to be a clubs first choice goalkeeper, it would be difficult to find a reason not to trust him to step in when needed. Mourinho himself has spoken about his pleasure in welcoming him to the club when speaking to the clubs website he's "so happy to have him." Mourinho's track record at signing quality players and building a formidable squad with great depth speaks for itself and is one of the reasons for his personal success, only further supporting the argument for Begovic being the right man for the job.
Can he replace a legend?
Begovic certainly has large amounts of pressure on him should he want to live up to the legacy left by Cech. The Czech Republic number one walks away on his time at Chelsea as a club legend and one of the all time greats to call Stamford Bridge his home ground.
Walking away from his time at Chelsea with an impressive; four Premier League titles and F.A cups, three League cups, two Community shields, a Europa League and who can forget his role in Chelsea's first Champions League trophy.
There are few goalkeepers playing today who have as much experience as Cech, whilst still being able to perform at the highest level week in and week out. He left Chelsea as the clubs highest capped international player of all time, whilst also claiming the record of the teams most clean sheets.
Whilst it will likely be Courtois who looks to break these records and create a new legacy by cementing himself as Chelsea's greatest goalkeeper, Cech's final season at the club was mainly spent on the bench as second choice.
This is the role in which Begovic is joining the club to fulfil, to force Courtois to perform at the highest level and be a reliable back-up choice in all competitions. There can be no doubt that Begovic is more than capable of stepping up to be the club's second choice goalkeeper, but whether he can make the lasting impact and legacy such as Cech's will be a near impossible task.