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Talks between Chelsea and Thibaut Courtois regarding a contract renewal for the stellar goalkeeper were reportedly stalled by the goalkeeper until mid-March — also known as the time period in which we are in at the time of this article. However, it seems that those talks may be delayed even further as even though Courtois declares himself committed to the club until next season, he feels that the negotiations should only return to motion at the end of the current term.
“I’m committed to Chelsea. I have a contract until next year and I will be here. I will do my best for it.”
“Obviously there is no extension signed but I don’t think now is the moment to do it. I think it is better to wait until the end of the season. All I can say is I’m committed to Chelsea and also committed for next year.”
“I have no other thing to say [about the contract]. It’s easy when you have only one year remaining that other people might say something.”
”I’m a bit annoyed by it because it’s a talking point and it’s a thing people went to dwell on.”
Of course this will only further the frustration of Chelsea fans with the debacle, especially in light of Courtois’ less than favourable acts under the club’s goalposts. However, he has good reason to put off the pitch talk aside since he is opting to focus on salvaging our season on the field with the games left in our schedule.
”I think the focus now should be on winning our League games to get a top four finish and back in the Champions League for next season as well as going through in the FA Cup.”
”That’s the most important thing and is what we have to do as a group and for myself as well.”
Back in the 2015-16 season, the last term in which Chelsea were in the Champions League before the current one, the team received a double blow to their trophy hopes by being eliminated from the continental competition by Paris Saint-Germain and then ending their FA Cup run with a loss to Everton. This time around Courtois wants to make sure that the sequence of bad happenings does not take place again, with the goalkeeper and his teammates set to do the utmost to get through Leicester City in the domestic cup’s quarterfinals.
“It is important that doesn’t happen again and it is what the manager [Antonio Conte] has said to us.”
”We have to take the effort and commitment we showed against Barcelona into the match on Sunday. If we have that same level of commitment, we will win.”
”I know Leicester are a difficult team to face, especially away from home. We will do our best to win.”
”The FA Cup is a great competition. We lost in the final last year and we are hungry to go to Wembley again and do something amazing.”
-Thibaut Courtois; Source: London Evening Standard
Even if the FA Cup does not have the same weight of neither the Premier League not the Champions League, it is still a trophy that we can lift at the end of the season. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to carry on our winning tradition and end a thus far disappointing season on a high note.
Time to make it happen.