Thibaut Courtois and Christian Benteke go way back. Beyond being teammates at the international level, the pair played together in Belgium at Genk. Courtois was asked a bit about his former club teammate yesterday, and had the following to say about him to the press:
'I know him well, we played together when we were young. Benteke is a player who has worked hard, he left Genk and had several loans spells that has helped him grow. He had a sensational 2011/12 season with Genk and that led to the attention from the Premier League.'
'He's a very strong center forward, tall, but with very good technique and skillful with the ball at his feet.'
'I think that he could be a great signing for Atletico. During these days with the national team and I'm going to ask him about his future.'
The Belgian keeper was clearly being led by this particular question, as the media were looking for comments linking the prolific striker to Madrid. That being said, I have two problems with quotes like these from our young player
- I hate when players use the media as a way to recruit other players to their clubs. I know Courtois was clearly led right into his answer, but even if he's planning to recommend Atletico to his international teammate, don't talk to the media about it. UEFA really needs to begin putting regulations in place designed to stop players from making these sorts of comments, as they don't do anyone but the tabloid media any good.
- Why the hell are you talking to the player about joining you in Spain, Thibaut? At most, you'll be in Madrid for one more season, and your future almost certainly lies in West London. That London club seems to be looking for a striker, and pays considerably more in wages than the club to which you've been loaned. If you're going to talk to Benteke about his future, stop talking to the media about it and talk to him about joining Chelsea. You could probably even get some Belgian teammates to help you in that regard...