Chelsea: Five blue things to look for in World Cup’s final matches
By Travis Tyler
2. Thibaut Courtois and the shop window
Courtois’ contract situation drug on and on until it was too late. Either he signs a new contract immediately or he has to be sold for Chelsea to make a profit off of him. That is the situation he has put the Blues in and there is no other way.
As such, Courtois is in a shop window currently. His family is in Madrid and he would surely prefer that, but he could also be willing to look elsewhere. How he does in the World Cup’s last two matches will be used by Chelsea as advertisement. Potential buyers will come in or be reached out to and they will be shown Courtois’ World Cup highlights.
That is why it is important for the Belgian to continue his good form. An offer is sure to come from somewhere, but the better he does the more Chelsea can hope to earn. And the more Chelsea can earn, the better the replacement they can find for the Belgian. So Chelsea will be looking for two, solid to amazing matches from Courtois.
3. N’Golo Kante’s rise to the top
As noted by John Bennett of the BBC, Kante’s rise is something special. Four years ago, Kante was 23 and had not yet played first division football. Four years later and he has won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and is perhaps the most important player for his club and country.
And perhaps the scariest thing about Kante is that he keeps getting better and better. He was a live wire when he arrived at Leicester. Antonio Conte improved the Frenchman’s passing to the point that he can often set the tempo for the entire team. And virtually all of that came between two World Cups.
Many players are thought to have finished development by 23. Kante proves that wrong. Not only has he grown immensely each year, but he is showing no signs of stopping. Kante is the shining example to every club that some players are late bloomers. How high he can go will be of great interest to everyone watching the Frenchman.