Amid their current strife, Chelsea must be kicking themselves when recalling the sale of imperious goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid in 2018, with a lingering feeling that he was sold for less than his true worth.
The club have been splashing the cash since the arrival of owner Todd Boehly last year and have spent more than £550m on new acquisitions already.
For all the affluence on show, one part of the squad which has remained untouched for some time now is the goalkeeping department, with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy alternating between the sticks since 2020.
The club’s dizzying spending spree has not yet borne the desired results on the pitch, with the Blues languishing in tenth place in the Premier League and facing a trophyless season unless an unlikely route to the Champions League final materialises – Chelsea trail Borussia Dortmund 1-0 following the round-of-16 first leg.
While the crux of the Blues’ issues can be largely attributed to the lack of cohesion and offensive impetus, boasting a truly world-class shot-stopper could just be imperative to stabilising the ship, and those responsible for selling Courtois five years ago must be questioning that decision in hindsight.
Did Chelsea blunder on Thibaut Courtois?
The Belgian was something of a stalwart for Chelsea after signing from Atletico Madrid for just £8m in 2011, forging 154 appearances once he came back to London following a loan spell in the Spanish capital, keeping 58 clean sheets and winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup with the Blues.
While Courtois was an endeared figure for most of his time at Stamford Bridge, heralded as “world-class” by one BBC journalist, his legacy in blue dissipated like smoke in the wind, forcing a move to Madrid and signing for £35m in 2018 as he wanted a return to Spain in order to be closer to his two children.
Although Chelsea’s concerns might have been swiftly calmed with the record-breaking £72m signing of Kepa, his time in England has certainly not reflected upon the sheer size of the fee, having made just 26 league appearances across the past three campaigns and been culpable of some atrocious errors.
With Graham Potter’s ball-playing philosophy not fitting into the Spaniard’s own skill set – Kepa ranks among only the top 57% of goalkeepers among Europe’s five main leagues for passes attempted per 90 – he very well might not be entrusted with the role over the coming years.
Given that Courtois has won the Champions League and two La Liga titles since he departed from London, he may be held in higher regard.
Any interested observer needs only look at the 100-cap Belgian’s performance against Liverpool in the Champions League final last May, when he broke the record for the most saves in a final with nine scintillating stops, being lauded as “incredible” by Fabrizio Romano for his efforts.
Now valued at £54m by Football Transfers, the 31-year-old is still performing admirably and has been an integral component to Carlo Ancelotti’s thriving team. Comparatively, Kepa has been beset with a shocking plummet to a market value of just £11.5m, starkly illustrating his decline.
Given the £255k-per-week Real Madrid star’s ball-playing prowess, as evidenced by his laudable 82% pass success rate in La Liga this term, Chelsea must rue the day that their premium Belgian goalkeeper forced his way out of SW6 in 2018.
