According to the Telegraph’s Matt Law, Chelsea and Thibaut Courtois have now started talks over a new contract extension. Courtois has two years left on his current deal, so the timing is perfect, as is the rumored 50% pay rise to £150k per week.
Chelsea open contract talks with Courtois with Begovic poised to join Bournemouth #cfc https://t.co/9E1bD0xR7G
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) May 17, 2017
While such a step has been rumored for months, even going back as far as November, now that the season is winding down, we can actually start to believe them. Courtois had been heavily linked (by the Spanish press) to Real Madrid after the debacle that was Chelsea’s season last year, but since the turnaround in the team’s fortunes have mirrored the turnaround in his own form, those talks have largely died away. A change in his personal situation also took away much of the fuel that was feeding those stories from Cadena SER and their ilk.
Expect similar stories about Eden Hazard and Antonio Contet soon as well, to ward off for good the Real Madrid and Inter Milan rumors, respectively. And by good we mean six months.