Thibaut Courtois is now a Real Madrid player and judging by most of the reactions from Chelsea fans, the player may soon be a forgotten figure at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgium international protested staying at Chelsea beyond this summer. His decision to abandon Chelsea training after his World Cup heroics was the biggest hint he did not want to play anymore in the Blues shirt.
Maurizio Sarri gave Chelsea the mandate to sell the goalkeeper, who won the Golden Glove at the 2018 World Cup, and in his stead will be former Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Kepa was in nets against Huddersfield in Chelsea’s first Premier League encounter of the season and just as Blues fans were forgetting about their former hero between the sticks, his agent Christophe Henrotay comes out to explain why his client left the club.
Henrotay admits Courtois would have stayed at the club this summer, if his family were in London.
“There has been a misunderstanding that he wanted to get a move for the wrong reasons, but he was pushing to go out of Chelsea because of his child. Unfortunately his kids are living with the mother in Madrid. He had the contract and it depended on Chelsea, but running close to the end of his contract, Chelsea had an interest to find a deal with Madrid, which they did.
“It is personal reasons so we have to respect this. Chelsea understood the situation and really helped to get the deal. They did a really quick and easy deal together, understanding the humanity of the situation. It is not doing something against their fans it is about getting the best of a situation that is not ideal.”
Christophe Henrotay, Evening Standard
