The journey from Belgium to England
It wasn’t the first time Thibaut Courtois went AWOL (AWOL means being absent from where one should be but without intent). Thibaut Courtois became AWOL so he could force the move to Real Madrid, primarily because his family is situated over there.
The first time when he went AWOL on a team was when he played for Genk, a club in Belgium, by missing a friendly and fan’s day. Chelsea signed him despite knowing this before shipping him out to Atletico Madrid on loan.
When he was at Atletico Madrid, he won the La Liga Title of the Season 2013/14, Europa League 2012, Copa Del Rey in 2013, and finally, he won the Champions League runners-up medal in 2014.
When the loan period was over, Chelsea recalled him back to the squad, and he displaced Petr Cech from the first team. He served Chelsea well, but never appeared to be grateful about his being at the club. Courtois was unhappy because he was staying away from his family. Chelsea served him four trophies which he could add to his name proudly, one of which included the English Premier League.
After the World Cup 2018, Courtois received the Golden Glove award. But then he went absent from Chelsea’s training sessions for three straight days, which forced Chelsea to sell him off to Real Madrid. The man looked happy to meet his family, and during his Real Madrid presentation, he kissed the badge, which he had never done for any other club before.
Thibaut Courtois has been on a long journey from Belgium to Spain. He was regarded as the best goalkeeper in the Belgian tier-1 league, and Chelsea signed him for about 11 million euros because of it.
Courtois is yet to have a clean sheet on his debut, and during his debut match with Real Madrid, he conceded a penalty goal keeping the curse alive. Nonetheless, he’s a fantastic goalkeeper and is likely to make a big impact in Madrid for many years to come.
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