After displacing Petr Cech as Chelsea’s undisputed number one goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois is sticking around at Stamford Bridge for quite some time.
The 22-year-old Belgian ‘keeper has signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea, as the lanky stopper continues his meteoric rise in West London.
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Courtois signed for Chelsea from Belgian club Genk in 2011 but was sent out on loan to Atletico Madrid for the past three season where he won a La Liga, Europa League and Copa Del Rey title, while also reaching the UEFA Champions League final last season. Over the summer he played in all five of Belgium’s games at the World Cup as they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Argentina.
On his return to Chelsea this season, Courtois has usurped Cech between the sticks and made his Blues debut last month. This new deal from Chelsea proves, once and for all, that Courtois is Mourinho’s new number one and throws Cech’s future at Chelsea into further doubt.
Speaking to the club website, here’s what Courtois had to say.
Over the past year, Courtois has kept 21 clean sheets in the league with Atletico in Spain and now Chelsea in the Premier League. He has been commanding and has proven his worth so far in goal this season for the Blues with some stunning saves in their first three games against Burnley, Leicester and Everton. That said, you have to feel sorry for Cech as the Czech Republic international has spent over a decade as first-choice ‘keeper at the Bridge. The 32-year-old now has a big decision to make as plenty of top European teams will want him to become their number one. Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Real Madrid were monitoring his situation in the summer but Cech still has two years left on his current deal.
As for Courtois, Chelsea’s future is in safe hands with the Belgian boy-wonder in goal.