Courtois prefers to delay contract extension talks with Chelsea to end of season

Thibaut Courtois’s contract extension was supposed to be one of the primary goals for the summer of 2017, but like Hazard’s contract extension, it never actually got done. But while Hazard still has two and a half years left, Courtois will be entering the final year of his five-year deal at the end of the season. That’s still the original contract he signed in 2014 when he returned from his three-year loan at Atletico to assume the mantle of first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Petr Cech. Since then, the 25-year-old has only become one of Chelsea’s most important players and one of the world’s best at his position.

Last summer would’ve been the ideal time to renew his contract, with two years still left on it, but that was put on the back-burner as other transfer window concerns took center stage. And it sounds like there’s been no progress since the season began either.

"The thing for me, the most important thing, is to perform well for myself and the team. Regarding my contract, that's the thing where Chelsea must deal with my agent. I don't think there have been any new developments."

While that sounds concerning, there is probably no need to get exasperated just yet. Courtois is fully focused on the season itself, and while his agent certainly could do some work, there is still plenty of time to work out a deal. But this will be an absolute must next summer and we’re going to have to stay very strong to ignore the deluge of Real Madrid rumors that are sure to materialize in the meantime.

"We have so many games at the moment, and I prefer to focus on the team's games, my own performances. There will be time enough towards the end of the season to have talks."

-Thibaut Courtois; source: London Evening Standard

The focus then is on tomorrow night at the clash against Qarabag. It’s a must-win for the Blues, as are most games these days.

“Our objective is to qualify tomorrow, so that means we have to win. For us it’s important to start very strong, to try to score early to put the pressure on them, and then hopefully we can have a good game and take the three points back to London.”

-Thibaut Courtois; source: Chelsea FC

Forza!