Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois (born 11 May 1992 in Bree, Belgium) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Chelsea, and the Belgium national team, as a goalkeeper.

Club career[link]

Early career[link]

Courtois began his career with local side Bilzen V.V.,^[3] where he started his career as a left back. Soon after, in 1999, he joined Racing Genk at the age of seven, and it was there that he was converted into a goalkeeper. Growing up he cited former Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar and current Chelsea keeper Petr Čech as his idols.

Racing Genk[link]

After progressing through the Genk youth system, Courtois (&1000000000000001600000016 years, &10000000000000341000000341 days) made his first team debut for Genk on 17 April 2009 against Gent. He was a key figure in Genk's title victory in the 2010–11 season in the Belgian Pro League. He received the Goalkeeper of the Year and Genk's Player of the Year when his team conceded 32 goals over the course of 40 league matches. He kept 14 clean sheets for Genk.^[4][5]

Chelsea[link]

On 14 July 2011, Genk agreed a fee with Premier League club Chelsea for Courtois.^[6] On 26 July 2011, Chelsea confirmed on their website that the transfer of Courtois was finalised and that he had signed a five-year contract with the club.^[7][8]

Loan to Atlético Madrid[link]

On 26 July 2011, Courtois completed a season-long loan deal to Spanish La Liga club Atlético Madrid. Courtois was given the number 13 shirt, last worn by David de Gea before his transfer to Manchester United.^[9][10]

He made his debut for Atlético in the UEFA Europa League match against Vitória Guimarães.^[11] He made his La Liga debut on 28 August 2011 against Osasuna in the 0-0 draw. Courtois started the season in impressive fashion and became first choice keeper over Sergio Asenjo, keeping four clean sheets in his first six La Liga games^[12] against the likes of Osasuna,^[13] Racing de Santander,^[14] Sporting Gijon^[15] and Sevilla.^[16] On 26 November 2011, Courtois received his first red card of his professional career against Real Madrid, after a last man foul on Karim Benzema in a penalty area at the 22 minute mark, the Madrid derby ended as a 4-1 loss for Atlético.^[17]

On 15 January 2012, Courtois held talks with then Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas, regarding spending another year on loan at Atlético Madrid. Courtois said: "I would like to stay here one more year and I said this to Chelsea's manager on Sunday."^[18] However, in February 2012, he told: "I think I will have to play for another English team for a year or two before I join Chelsea,". Also saying that he hopes to succeed Petr Čech: "I'm quite happy with my performances for Atlético. But given Petr Čech is one of the best keepers in the world, I think I will have to stay put."^[19]

Courtois kept a clean sheet in Atlético's 3-0 triumph over fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League Final on Thursday 9 May in Bucharest.^[20]

International career[link]

On 7 October 2011, Courtois was named in the Euro 2012 Qualifying match-day squad for Belgium against Kazakhstan which ended in a 4-1 win for Belgium.^[21] On 11 October 2011, Courtois was also named in the Euro 2012 Qualifying match-day squad for Belgium against Germany but again was left on the bench, the game ended in a 3-1 loss for Belgium.^[22] On 15 November 2011, Courtois made his debut starting in a friendly for Belgium against France, making him the youngest keeper to ever play for the Belgian national team, the game ended in a goalless draw.^[23][24][25]

Career statistics[link]

As of 3 April 2012

¹Including the La Liga and Belgian Pro League.

²Including Belgian Cup and Copa del Rey.

³Including UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

C.S. – Clean sheets.

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Racing Genk

• Belgian Pro League: 2010–11
• Belgian Cup: 2008–09

Atletico Madrid

• Europa League: 2011-12

Individual[link]

• Goalkeeper of the Year: 2010–11
• Racing Genk Player of the Year: 2010–11

References[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (April 2012)

External links[link]

• Atlético Madrid official profile
• La Liga profile
• Transfermarkt profile
• Thibaut Courtois at footballzz.co.uk
• Sky Sports profile