Chelsea have under a week to sell Thibaut Courtois and buy a replacement, which means they will likely keep him through the final year of his contract. They have one long-shot hope, though, for selling him at a worthwhile price.
Thibaut Courtois is due back in the Chelsea camp this weekend, following Belgium’s exploits at the World Cup. The reception the Golden Glove winner receives from colleagues and supporters over the coming days and weeks is likely to define his Chelsea career. Obviously, Maurizio Sarri would like to retain Courtois services. He is, after all, a top class keeper. But, as the Italian knows, it’s not really in his hands.
“At the moment Courtois is the goalkeeper of Chelsea,” said Sarri. “I don’t know in the future. It depends on the club, it depends especially on him, but I hope Courtois will be our goalkeeper.”
We know Courtois’ preferred option. He’s hardly been coy about where he would like to play his football. His desire to return to Madrid to take up a paternal role he so craves is perfectly acceptable. Of course he wants to spend more time with his children, there is absolutely no problem there. He would surely receive and deserve more abuse if that were not the case.
From Sarri’s point of view, though, he’s inherited a long-standing issue that shrouded the club for most of last season. It’s not a new problem. Courtois was showing signs of restlessness not long after he returned to his parent club following a three-year loan deal to Atletico Madrid. Nearly two years ago, the Belgian had this process firmly underway when he said “I have a contract at Chelsea for three seasons… In 2018, when I enter the final year of the contract, we will assess whether to renew or leave.”
That kind of talk creates a disconnect with the fans, something Courtois has been guilty of on more than one occasion. But he says it like he sees it and has never been afraid to put his head above the parapet, something for which he deserves credit.
With that in mind maybe discussions will begin this weekend to settle Courtois’ future. Maybe it’s already been decided. Until it happens, no one will know, many will speculate, but no one really knows.
What we do know is Courtois will miss the season opener at Wembley on Sunday against Manchester City. Willy Caballero will start the Community Shield game between the sticks. Courtois could well be in attendance, though, and the cameras will be looking for any small sign of discontent. They won’t be interested in anything else.
Moving forward it’s simple. Courtois either stays on and sees out the remainder of his contract before leaving for free next summer, or the Chelsea hierarchy cash-in now and look for a replacement post haste.
If it’s the former, the Belgian shot-stopper will become the world’s first disposable goalkeeper. Signed for around £9 million from Belgian outfit Genk seven years ago, Courtois currently has a transfer value upwards of £65 million. It’s possible Roman Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia deem Courtois surplus to requirements, his runaway mouth convincing the Russians to move him on at whatever cost. Speculation points towards Real Madrid, but their valuation falls well short of what he could be worth.
The long drawn out departure of Antonio Conte revealed a vindictiveness in the upper ranks of Chelsea FC that may well seed an uncomfortable season in Chelsea’s goal should Courtois stay. Some in the boardroom must believe the Belgian has shown the club little respect after he all but forced club legend Petr Cech into asking for a move to Arsenal when he became Jose Mourinho’s preferred option at the start of the Portuguese One’s annus horribilis, back in June 2015.
If Chelsea let him run his contract down, when he’s barely reached his prime (in goalkeeping terms), then he must have been a very bad boy in the eyes of Abramovich and his cohorts. To risk losing out on – at a conservative guess – £40 million, Abramovich will be looking for some kind of recompense. That may come in the form of Champions League qualification. The income that brings in will at least alleviate some of the financial pain.
If Courtois leaves now, Willy Caballero will find himself as the number one choice. Unfortunately, as we’ve already seen this pre-season, he’s not good enough.
History tells us that in this late stage of the transfer window, which ends Thursday, Marina Granovskaia is not at her best. Rob Green’s arrival makes some sense, but it does not really help matters. The media would love us to believe Liverpool usurped Chelsea for Roma’s Alisson Becker, but the truth is he was probably never heading for Chelsea.
Should Courtois go to one of the Madrid sides, it would have to be as their number one. The obvious replacement for Chelsea, then, would point towards the current starter at that club. Neither Keylor Navas nor Jan Oblak want to be Courtois’ understudy.
On paper, Navas is the weaker of all three keepers and, as such, would seem the likeliest option. Whilst Oblak would improve Chelsea at the back, Atletico won’t want to sanction that move unless Chelsea adds in the sweetener of an outfield player. However, after the Diego Costa saga, will the two clubs do business, and can they afford to?
At the bottom line, Navas is too old and simply not good enough for Chelsea. The club cannot afford to let Courtois go, and that leaves just one other option.
Thibaut Courtois returns, misses the first couple of league games as he regains full match fitness before Marina Granovskaia and Roman Abramovich pull the old Daniel Levy contract extension shuffle in December, signing Courtois up on a new two-year contract before sending him off to Real Madrid next summer for a fee in the region of £40 million.
Who replaces him will be next summer’s story.