How times change…
After a summer of speculation, Thibaut Courtois is finally a Real Madrid player.
It was announced on Wednesday night that the goalkeeper would leave Chelsea for the European champions for a fee of around £35m, the 26-year-old agreeing a six-year deal at the Bernabeu.
This, of course, isn’t the first time that Courtois will have played for a club in Spain – or even Madrid, for that matter.
Within weeks of joining Chelsea from Genk in 2011, he was loaned out to the Spanish capital’s other club, Atletico Madrid. He went on to spend three seasons with the club, only returning to Stamford Bridge at the start of the 2014/15 season.
Although his time at Atleti was only ever temporary and the club have since replaced him with Jan Oblak, it’s clear plenty of their supporters regard his move to their local rivals as something of a betrayal.
The AtleticoFans Twitter page swiftly followed the announcement of the transfer by tweeting footage to Courtois of him telling Real fans to “f*** themselves up the ***” as he celebrated Atleti’s Copa Del Rey victory.
‘Thought you’d like to remember it,’ the tweet reads, closing with three rat emojis.
Hey @thibautcourtois just a little reminder of that time you stood on the Madrid town hall balcony and told Real fans to "f*** themselves up the ***". Thought you'd like to remember it. 🐭🐁🐀#Courtois https://t.co/2zabowOcwc
— ATLETICOFANS (@AtleticoFans) August 8, 2018
Courtois’ move to Real hasn’t just upset Atleti supporters, either.
The Belgium number one posted a lengthy message to Facebook just moments after the transfer was confirmed, thanking Chelsea fans for their backing throughout his seven-year association with the club.
However, the manner in which Courtois forced his move hasn’t gone down well with supporters – the shot-stopper refusing to report for Chelsea training two days in a row. In response, Blues fans let him know their feelings towards him in the comments under his post. Presumably because of this, it was promptly deleted.
While Courtois prepares for his unveiling at the Bernabeu, Chelsea have moved to replace him by agreeing to meet the £71m buyout clause for Atletico Bilbao’s Kepa Arrizabalaga.
