Chelsea’s League predicament has left Belgium international Thibaut Courtois disgruntled and possibly on the lookout for a new club, according to Goal.
The 23-year-old’s bond with the London Outfit might have been broken by Chelsea’s abysmal season – the fact that they’re out of contention for Champions League football doesn’t help either.
After winning the Premier League title last season, the Blues were expected to at least finish within the top two this campaign, but they’ve fallen well short of expectations and are now struggling to stake their claim in the top half of the Premier League table.
Courtois was faced by a long spell on the sidelines for the most part of the first half of the campaign because of a knee injury.
His return to the side didn’t change much though as Chelsea still struggled to pick up wins and keep clean sheets.
The abysmal performances of the Blues can be attributed to Jose Mourinho as he fell out of favour with some of the Chelsea players due to his unorthodox tactics.
Guus Hiddink’s arrival in the Chelsea dugout brought about a glimmer of hope as the Dutch tactician was bringing in the desired results although so far he has been unable to keep Chelsea In contention for any trophy this season.
Chelsea’s best chance of European football next season looks slim, and apparently, Chelsea players would not be contented with Europa League football next season.
During a press interview while on international duty, Courtois failed to rule out a move out of Chelsea in the summer.
“I do not say yes, I do not say no. I do not know,” he told Belgian broadcaster RTBF when asked if he will stay at Chelsea beyond this season.
“I still have three years on my contract. We must see what Chelsea want.
“It is true that it [this season] has changed me. Until now I had always won a trophy every season. We hope that next season will be better.”
The Chelsea goalie also said that he enjoys training with his fellow Belgium team-mates as opposed to Chelsea’s average players.
“The level of training is higher among Devils,” he said.
“There are only world-class players [here], while at Chelsea, there are some players a little less rated and we often train with youngsters as well.”
It remains to be seen whether Courtois will follow up on his comments in the summer with the likes of Real Madrid linked reportedly keen on his services.
Chelsea are currently nine points away from the 6th place on the Premier League table, and they’ll be looking to close that gap as quickly as they can over the next couple of games.
Courtois will have to put in extraordinarily impressive performances in Chelsea’s remaining eight games for them to stand a chance of playing European football next season.
So far the Chelsea players have done a good job of making up for their mistakes at the start of the season, but now they have to dig a little deeper to end the season on a high note.
