According to the latest reports, Chelsea shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois has now signed for European champs Real Madrid, after speculations that he would not be leaving this summer transfer window. The Blues are now set to inform their prized asset that he will not be leaving Stamford Bridge this season and will probably see out the remainder of his contract with Chelsea.
After finishing in fifth place on the Premier League table last term, Chelsea had a rather disastrous defense to their Premiership title. The West London club will now be ineligible to compete in the Champions League and will face a tough last week this summer transfer window in trying to keep hold of their star players. Despite winning the FA Cup back in May, Chelsea decided to sack Italian manager Antonio Conte last month.
One player who was constantly linked with a move away from Chelsea this transfer window was Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois amid interest from La Liga giants Real Madrid. The 26-year-old has been incredible for Chelsea ever since arriving at the club back in 2014 after being sent on loan with Atletico Madrid, Courtois has won two Premier League trophies, one FA Cup and one League Cup for the London based outfit until now. But Courtois has also publicly revealed that he wants to move back to the Spanish capital in order to reunite with his wife and daughter.
Courtois had also stalled on a contract extension with the Stamford Bridge outfit because he has potentially decided where his future will lie, there are rumors that Courtois has also rejected a contract extension in order for the club to let go of their star keeper. Courtois’ current deal expires in the summer of 2019 which means that Chelsea will have to let him leave for free if they don’t sell him in this or the January transfer window. Courtois has not yet joined Chelsea for their preseason fixtures as he was given an extended time off on holidays after the World Cup tournament with Belgium.
However, when Courtois would have returned to London, Chelsea would have told him that he would be seeing out his contract at Stamford Bridge as they have no intention of selling their prized asset this summer despite the heavy interest shown by European champions Real Madrid. The main reason for Chelsea to keep hold of Courtois was because they were looking for replacements this summer but failed to lure any keepers so far.
Jan Oblak and Kevin Trapp were kept hold of their respective clubs Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint Germain while Everton recently rejected Chelsea’s bid for Jordan Pickford. This meant that Chelsea will have to use Courtois until the end of the summer as Argentine keeper Willy Caballero has looked shaky for Maurizio Sarri
However, with Kepa triggering his release clause to move to the Bridge, Courtois was finally sold to Los Blancos, with Kovacic making the move in the opposite direction on a season long loan. Also, as part of the deal Kovacic will join the west London outfit on loan for the current campaign.
We have tonight agreed terms with Real Madrid for the transfer of Thibaut Courtois, subject to the agreement of personal terms and a medical. As part of the deal, Mateo Kovacic will join Chelsea on a season-long loan.https://t.co/WXhHzEdf6D
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 8, 2018
