Thibaut Courtois has redeemed himself after rocky Chelsea relationship

Thibaut Courtois appeared to be on the verge of leaving Chelsea just a few months ago. Now, the Belgian has come full circle on the path to redemption.

Thibaut Courtois’s Chelsea career didn’t have the most auspicious of starts given that he practically forced the club’s hand in pushing club legend Petr Cech out of the club. However, his contributions on the pitch in the title winning season removed any doubts about his quality and the decision the club was forced to make regarding Cech. Right from the start, though, he rubbed Chelsea fans the wrong way.

Courtois is an ambitious young man who has risen to the top at a very young age. He is unique among the Chelsea loanees in that he successfully forced out a world class starter. Courtois symbolizes the path every loanee hopes to take.

However, since last season, people have questioned the decision to let Cech go in favour of Courtois. Courtois had a very shaky start to the 2015/16 campaign. He was sent off in the first game of the season and it all went downhill from there. He struggled for fitness like the rest of the team, made errors that cost the team points and finally was forced to undergo a surgery on his knee that kept him out for three months.

All this without mentioning the spat he had with experienced GK coach Christophe Lollichon. The second half of last season was largely forgettable for everyone involved.

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After Antonio Conte’s appointment, there were a lot of questions about the future of several Chelsea stars, Thibaut Courtois among them. Courtois, though, was a man on a mission as he sought to both improve his reputation and help Belgium to get to the Euro 2016 final. His Belgian team was on the receiving end of a Conte masterclass but, nevertheless, Courtois came out of the tournament with his flagging reputation somewhat repaired.

A number of reported interviews and comments that arose over the summer did nothing to quell the rumours that Courtois was looking to move on. Real Madrid was touted as a possible destination. However, once the players convened to start pre-season, Courtois came out and said that he would be staying at Chelsea. A conversation with Conte was thought to be behind this.

And yet, the rumours persisted with a number of interviews that served only to anger the Chelsea fans, despite Courtois claiming the mistranslation excuse. By this points, Blues supporters had had enough.

There was an overwhelming opinion that Courtois was talking the talk but not walking the walk. That his performances were not of the quality that we’ve come to expect from Chelsea goalkeepers, let alone worth the kind of fees he was reportedly on the market for. So, the season began with the fans disenchanted with Courtois’ attitude.

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Much like the last campaign, Chelsea were still leaky at the back, conceding goals at the wrong times and being forced to resort to frantic last minute pushes for equalizers and winners. Given that the backline remained more or less the same as last season, the usual suspects took the blame.

Things came to head against Swansea when Courtois badly miscued his attempted clearance and conceded a penalty. He was lucky not to have been sent off, as he was saved by the rule changes that eliminated the double strike rule for fouls in the penalty area.

But for the last eight games, Courtois has shown the kind of form that has been expected since he first returned from Atletico Madrid. He’s back to his best at controlling the penalty box, his distribution has improved a lot and he has come up with crucial saves to keep us in games, especially against the big teams.

That is only beginning to describe his renaissance. However good his performances have been, the remarkable thing is that he is beginning to repair his relationship with the fans.

Courtois’ rather boisterous celebrations with fans behind him in the stands have been a recurring feature of Chelsea’s winning streak. He has made an effort to connect with the fans and it feels like he is now more a part of the club and the team than he was before. This is further exemplified by him running over to join the melee in the final minutes against City to stand up for his teammates and pacify the situation.

It goes without saying that Courtois has at least a decade performing at the top level left in him and he remains one of the best goalkeepers around. Chelsea made the right call in choosing him over Cech three years ago because Courtois can be a huge part of the club’s future.

Meanwhile, credit goes to Conte for building an atmosphere of togetherness and spirit which has fostered a sense of belonging in Courtois. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of an association between the club and the player that will last a very long time