Why Chelsea must keep this Europe's next big star

Thibaut Courtois

Thibaut Courtois is in his third season as an Atlético Madrid player. Although he is still only on loan and remains under the ownership of Chelsea, the keeper seems to be in his element in La Liga. Already first-choice in the Belgium national team, he is developing remarkably.

A star in the making, Courtois’ biggest strength is his one-on-one shot stopping. His ability to stop the ball is instinctual and over his three loan seasons, the 21-year-old has consistently improved, clearly eager to prove his worth.

His move to the Vicente Calderon in 2011 has been beneficial for all parties involved. Courtois himself is able to show his talent, Chelsea are able to keep a close eye on their Petr Cech replacement and Atlético are able to challenge for trophies, with one of the world’s most solid keepers.

Thibaut Courtois stats

In 19 league games this season, the Belgian giant has kept 10 clean sheets and concedes an average of 0.58 goals per game; his consistency has been key to Atlético’s recent success.

The winner of the 2012/13 Zamora award (the trophy awarded to La Liga’s best keeper each season), he is definitely fighting to be the best in the world.

At the minute, it would be fair to claim that only Manuel Neuer is better. That said, the Belgian keeper has kept one clean sheet more than the ten managed by the German international.

It could be argued that Courtois has one of Europe’s best defences to shield him, but he has been left one-on-one numerous times and is often the winner.

Courtois Average Claim Success – La Liga 2012/13

Another one of his main strengths is his handling, which has been a weak point for many keepers in the Spanish league. Over the course of 2012/13, the keeper’s La Liga claim success was a perfect 100%, meaning that out of all of the catches Courtois attempted, he didn’t fumble the ball once. As the Premier League is known for it’s physicality, this will undoubtedly benefit Chelsea if he does return to London.

The keeper himself has suggested that he will go back to his parent club next season, stating in September that “Next year I can take more risks…”, referring to 2014 being a World Cup year, and he is guaranteed to start in the Atlético team.

Although there have been rumours that Atlético are seeking a permanent deal and reported interest from Barcelona to consider (Courtois’ father has rubbished these claims, though), it isn’t likely that Chelsea would want to offload the young keeper.

José Mourinho has suffered first-hand against Atlético and Courtois’ goalkeeping heroics in the final of the Copa del Rey. Real Madrid could not get past him, and Atlético went on to win their first game against their city rivals in 14 years, and win their first domestic trophy in 17 years.

The rumours are that Courtois wants to replace Cech and will not tolerate being benched in favour of the Chelsea veteran. Cech remains in his peak as a goalkeeper and, as one of Mourinho’s old-guard, is unlikely to be kicked out of the club.

With Mourinho’s track record against Barcelona, they can almost certainly be ruled out in the race to sign him, leaving just a financially unstable Atlético Madrid. It will be a huge task prying him away from the London club, but Los Rojiblancos can succeed.

Several things that go in the rising Madrid club’s favour are; Courtois has not played at all for Chelsea; he has battled to win trophies with Atlético and must feel some loyalty towards them and the Belgian is not guaranteed to start at Chelsea.

A goalkeeper of this standard, one who has done so much at the age of 21, will definitely cost huge amounts of money. I believe his loan club will secure him on a permanent deal this summer. He is perhaps the most vital cog in a machine that wants to stop the Real Madrid and Barcelona duopoly.