Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois has been told that The Blues have a 3 or 4 year plan for the keeper ? by which time he`ll be our first choice #1.
He was André Villas-Boas` first signing, but Thibaut Courtois, 18, spent barely 24 hours at Chelsea before being shipped out on loan to Atlético Madrid. We hope he had time to pick up a few Chelsea jerseys during that time.
Chelsea paid ?9 million for the kid and offered him a 5-year contract. And our man was between the sticks for Atlético`s opening game over the weekend against Real Sociedad. If the idea is to give him experience at the highest level, it is working: our loanee has also played in Atlético`s Europa League qualifier against Braga. In both games he kept a clean sheet, and the role of both keepers was highlighted in the match reports for the Liga match. If anything, Courtois was Atlético`s man of the match? Chelsea might well have unearthed a real jewel.
Courtois has been talking to the Belgian press about what seems suspiciously like a 5-year plan. “In theory I`ll be spending the season at Atlético”. That part we already knew. “Afterwards, if I play, I might stay a second year. Then, for the third year, I should be loaned to an English club to get used to the Premier League”.
After that, it gets a bit stranger. “The fourth year, I should normally be the new number one at Chelsea. That`s the theory, I can`t say yet how I will play and how I will develop”. So in four year`s time, Courtois will be our number one sticksman? Apparently.
Only by then, our current number one sticksman, Petr Čech, would be a mere 33 years old. Voted the 3rd best goalkeeper of the decade, 33 is far from over the hill for a goalkeeper. For every David De Gea, there are any number of Edwin Van der Sars, Gianluigi Buffons or Oliver Kahns, goalkeepers who were still at their peak even as they approach 40. Is Courtois so good that he`ll be edging Čech out? Or will Čech be still between the posts after 35? Apparently Courtois doesn`t think that he`s got so much time in him: “Chelsea don`t think that it`s the case, as Čech has suffered some serious head injuries. He also has some niggles to the back and the shoulder. He should play another 4 or 5 years”.
That`s quite some revelations about Chelsea`s plans for the Blues` Player of the Year last season: he won`t be around for that long. Fortunately the club seems to be preparing for when Big Pete hangs up his gloves.
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