What looked like a possible crisis has become something of a non-story in the Chelsea FC camp as Thibaut Courtois confirmed he will be out until at least December. The Belgium number one suffered a knee injury after the first international break of the season but the Blues have not missed him much as Asmir Begovic has played excellent football in his place.
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Begovic was brought in from Stoke City in the summer as a replacement for Petr Cech and has performed admirably as the Chelsea number one. Courtois’s injury has left Chelsea FC thin at the goalkeeper position and they responded by brining in former AC Milan keeper Marco Amelia on a free transfer. The Blues may utilize Amelia’s services in their next domestic cup encounter to give Begovic a rest but he may not be needed much longer.
Courtois spoke to Sky Sports about his injury and believes he is on schedule to return in December:
"“In terms of my knee, it is good. I am doing my rehabilitation and it is progressing fine. I will be (now) starting the bulk of the work with my physio to come back as soon as possible. Of course I still have to be careful not to go too quickly, but all being well, I should be back in December.”"
So barring any setbacks the Blues will have their original number one keeper available for selection and he should slide right back in to the starting lineup. Although Begovic has played excellent football he is still the number two keeper and Chelsea must show their commitment to Courtois. Many supporters feel that Courtois has yet to prove his loyalty to the club and may be looking for a way back to Spain once his current contract runs its course.
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Chelsea made a choice in committing to Courtois over Cech this past summer in a bid to prove to him that he is their long term choice and replacing him with Begovic would be counter-productive in that sense. Players often lose their starting positions due to injury but there is no reason to do that to Courtois who was playing well before his injury.
Begovic has been a capable replacement and has saved the Blues from further embarrassment in their losses but it is not as if he has saved their season. This injury layoff has simply proved to Jose Mourinho and the Chelsea brass that they made a wise investment in the Bosnian international and that they have two world-class goalkeepers at their disposal.
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