Courtois ‘close’ to signing new Chelsea contract while encouraging ‘irreplaceable’ Hazard to do the same

After a year of off-and-on rumors and talks, it looks like we’re coming down the final stretch of the Courtois contract extension saga, with the Chelsea goalkeeper revealing to HLN’s Kristof Terreur that a deal is “close” and that he expects to be sitting down in the coming weeks to make it official.

The deal, as rumored before, is set to make Courtois the highest paid goalkeeper in the world at €235k/week (€10k more than De Gea), with Granovskaia tabling the offer after a series of “intense” negotiations over the past few weeks. With Courtois in the discussion for best goalkeeper in the world — don’t take my word for it, take former goalkeeper coach Christophe Lollichon’s — it’s more than well deserved.

One thing that would add to Courtois’s happiness at Chelsea is if his friend and compatriot Eden Hazard also extended his contract, which does have one more year to run currently than his. Courtois, who’s not the first to call Hazard Chelsea’s Messi (in terms of importance to the squad), says that he’s been actively encouraging Eden to follow his lead at the negotiating table.

The 25-year-old who was probably Chelsea’s Man of the Match yesterday against Arsenal despite conceding twice, has been the undisputed first-choice in goal since 2014, and fortunately looks ready to extend that relationship for the long-term and hopefully set the example for Hazard to follow as well.