THIBAUT COURTOIS is steeling himself for a rough return to Stamford Bridge and hopes that Romelu Lukaku won’t be part of the welcoming committee.
The Belgian keeper has never been forgiven by Chelsea fans for the way he forced a cut-price move to Real Madrid in 2018.
Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted he’s ‘happy’ to be returning to Stamford Bridge Credit: PA
Courtois won two Prem titles, a League Cup and FA Cup at Chelsea – but is extremely unpopular among Blues supporters for the way he left the club Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd And while last season’s Champions League semi-final was played behind closed doors, this time he will feel the full force of the wrath of the team he left behind.
So it’s no surprise that Courtois is eager to play down any animosity, insisting: “I played here for four years and won two League titles and some cups.
“Chelsea was a big part of my career. They gave me the chance to grow and to learn from Petr Cech.
“Maybe my departure was less pleasant, but it is always difficult to leave any club and I am always happy to come back here.”
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Grand National free bets and sign up offers: New customer deals for Aintree Courtois will be even happier if his Belgian team-mate Lukaku is missing from Chelsea’s starting line-up after struggling to live up to his £97million price tag this season.
He said: “Romelu is a great striker so it’s strange not to see him playing much lately.
“He’s a guy with so much quality who finds the goal easily, but there are other great strikers at Chelsea and if the team is winning without him the manager keeps picking the same players.
“Everyone needs time to adapt to a new club with a new coach and new tactics. My first year at Madrid was also not easy.
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“I am sure that Romelu will come good. But I hope he can wait one more week before he does that.”
Courtois has also been following events surrounding the sanctioning of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich closely.
He said: ”It’s been a hard month for the club, the fans and the players. You can see all the people who love Chelsea are putting their energy together to keep the blue spirit.
“I just hope the new owners will understand the club they are buying.
“In terms of the players, Chelsea are more or less the same team we played last year but then were more dynamic and in a good flow.
“I think this year they are struggling a bit more and the good thing is that we know where we failed last time we played them so we believe we can have a better result this time and get to the semi-finals.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
