Chelsea: Real Madrid backup keeper sad that actions have consequences

Thibaut Courtois cannot stop talking and now wants to play the victim of his Chelsea exit. So the record must be set straight.

Exits from clubs can come in a variety of flavors. They can be sad as in the case of Juan Mata leaving for playing time. They can be unfortunate as in the case of Romelu Lukaku leaving as Chelsea bought striker after striker ahead of him. They can be honorable as was the case with John Terry when his time ran out.

Almost always, exits are bittersweet. But sometimes, there are transfers that are messy on the part of the club, the player, or both. The Diego Costa transfer, for instance, was a failure on the part of many. The things said afterwards by Costa were mostly reinterpretations of facts that put him in a positive light. They were, of course, incorrect to what actually occurred, but there was plenty of wiggle room given the fault of man in the situation. Thibaut Courtois is attempting something similar while ignoring the fact that every bit of criticism he has gotten has been his fault.

Courtois’ has taken to the media (again) to say how sad he is at Chelsea fans’ reactions to his move. His excuse was that fans do not know the truth. But that is not true. Fans are well aware of what happened.

At first, Courtois was torn over extending his contract because of his children in Madrid. That is perfectly understandable and was defensible at the time. He says the decision was made “in March” for him to leave, but rumors and quotes circulated for months about how he would decide after the season and the after the World Cup.

If Courtois had decided that early, the honorable thing would have been to be upfront about it. The fans are not ignorant. They understand the lure of being with his children. That was an acceptable reason. What was not an acceptable was how he burnt everything down on his way out and after and now wants to play the victim of his own actions.

Chelsea was looking for a replacement throughout the summer before letting Courtois go. That was understandable on their part. But that was not good enough for Courtois. He opted to go AWOL from training, citing “it better not to disturb the team and the squad”. Except by not showing up, he did disturb the squad. He showed how unprofessional he is and forced the club to accelerate their plans and lose all negotiation power over Kepa Arrizabalaga.

He went on the say he “loves Chelsea” but all he has done since jumping ship to Real Madrid’s bench is knock Chelsea down. The stadium there is bigger. The players are better. The training is harder. Instead of simply taking his move like he wanted, he had to stick the knife and twist the knife. And then he had the gall to step back and say that the Chelsea fans are wrong to be upset.

Courtois is a manipulator. He manipulated Chelsea with the contract extension until he played his card and got his move. He is now trying to manipulate the fans who are upset at him. What he fails to realize is that his actions had consequences.

Club support is tribal. At times to a terrifying degree. But it is traditional and not going away anytime soon. Chelsea applauds many former players when they play at Stamford Bridge because they showed respect in their exit. Courtois has shown zero respect. If he is sad at the fans’ reactions, it is through no fault but his own.