Chelsea must force Courtois’ hand: Sign, or we buy someone who will
By George Perry
Thibaut Courtois proffered what he may believe is a compromise or, by his standards, a hearty statement of support for Chelsea. His weak-sauce commitment sets the club up for failure and should be rejected whole-heartedly.
We often criticize Thibaut Courtois on these digital pages for not being in control of his space or his defenders when the opposition has the ball in Chelsea’s defensive third. But when it comes to his contract situation, Courtois is masterfully manipulating his situation. Then again, he is not facing a a particularly sharp adversary in the negotiation.
On Monday Courtois said maybe he will sign a new contract or maybe he won’t. He will “sit down together” with the club after the season ends, and then go to the World Cup. And then next season, new contract or not, he will be back at Chelsea.
In board rooms across Europe (Spain, in particular. Madrid, in extra particular), two words are dancing in technical directors’ minds: free transfer.
If Chelsea allow Thibaut Courtois to start the 2018/19 season without a new contract, they will officially be Arsenal. Different colour kit, west London instead of north London, no Fan TV and no plane-drawn banners. But make no mistake, they will be Arsenal. How else to describe such an weak and unavoidable loss of negotiating leverage, such a humiliating loss of face and such a predictable ending for a valuable player?
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If Courtois starts the season without a contract, Chelsea will have no good options. They could restart negotiations through the season and hope to sign a contract at some point between August and May. Of course, Courtois has already proven himself a master of prolonging negotiations, and with each passing day Chelsea have less leverage.
They could attempt to sell him in January. But to do that, especially considering the pressure Antonio Conte will be under to deliver either Premier League or Champions League next year, they will need to have his replacement ready to step in. That, in turn, would require having his replacement by the early summer so he can be experienced in the Premier League and Champions League by January. That, in itself, is a tall order, without even considering the managerial aspects. Will this new goalkeeper start ahead of Courtois from opening day? Asked another way, is Courtois willing to start the season on the bench? Would Antonio Conte – or any manager in his right mind – enter the season with a plan to rotate his goalkeepers knowing one will leave in January? And of course, if Courtois does not play regularly through the first half of the season, his January transfer value will go down even more.
Both of those options dead end in the third option: letting Thibaut Courtois leave next summer on a free transfer. Simply flush £50 million down the drain because they did not take the appropriate line in transfer negotiations the previous season and summer.
Real Madrid could not ask for a better outcome than Courtois starting next season without a contract. Once again, Courtois’ statements seem more closely aligned with Real’s interests than Chelsea’s.
This may be less abrasive than anything Diego Costa pulled on the training ground last year, but it is player power just the same. Chelsea need to remind their players who has the power at Stamford Bridge. They must assert their prerogative and make Courtois understand that if he does not renew his contract, he will not play at Chelsea next season. They must then find a new starting goalkeeper, both to prove they are serious and because they will need one soon enough.
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Few clubs would tolerate a player manipulating them like this, let alone going along with it as useful idiots. In a few months, we’ll know if there are two such clubs in London.