Thibaut Courtois Will Reveal Future Soon
Courtesy of Flickr user Cortexena
Chelsea FC loanee and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has recently told the Spanish media that he will reveal what decisions he has made on his future soon. In an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero, Courtois was asked about what his plans are at the end of the season but he was noncommittal in his response.
Courtois said that he is “focused on the games [Atletico] have” and that he will “reveal [his] decision soon”. Courtois has done well to reveal little with his side in the title conversation but he is still fueling speculation by not being committed to his parent club.
"“I’ll reveal my decision soon. I’ll let everyone know but for now I’m just focused on the games we have."
It could all be cut and dry for Thibaut Courtois if he simply came out at the beginning of the season and said that he is a Chelsea player first and foremost and will not be commenting on his future. It may not have called off all the media hounds searching for a story but it would have cooled speculation that he was looking for another club where he would be the unquestioned number one keeper.
Thibaut Courtois has stated this season that he would like to return to Chelsea and as he is one of the best young keepers in the world, Chelsea would do well to keep him. However he included the caveat that he would only like to return if he was the number one goalkeeper. There have been discussions of whether to put Petr Cech and Courtois in a competition for the spot in the preseason but it would be hard to judge a player based on meaningless friendlies.
The other alternative would be to loan him to a Premier League club to see if he could handle the physicality of the English game but then he would not get more Champions League experience the way he has at Atletico. Chelsea have a dilemma on their hands and it will take some delicate handling to solve the problem, even if it is a good one to have. Much like the striker situation at the club, the name on the back of the Chelsea number one kit is still very much undecided.
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