Petr Cech Wants Out!

A lot of activity took place throughout�the summer transfer window of 2014. Chelsea were obviously involved, as they always have been, but this time they made all their incoming transfers as soon as possible.

One of the newest players at Chelsea this season is not really a ‘new’ player, because although he had already been under contract with Chelsea since 2011, he had not yet played in an official game. This player is Thibaut Courtois.

Courtois joined in 2011 and spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid. During his time at Atletico, he received many plaudits and awards such as the Zamora Trophy(2x), a trophy given to the best goalkeeper all season in La Liga by Marca, the La Liga Goalkeeper of the year(2013), La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, and the UEFA Super Cup and Europa League.

All of Courtois’ accomplishments while on loan evidently impressed the ‘Special One’ as he decided to recall the relatively young Belgian and make him the starting goalkeeper ahead of club legend Petr Cech.

This season Courtois has played a total of 743 minutes out of a possible 900, meanwhile, Cech has only played 157 out of the possible 900. Needless to say, the Chelsea veteran is not happy.

Cech has been at Stamford Bridge since 2004 and the way he replaced Carlo Cudicini is similar to the way he is being replaced now. An injury to Cech near the end of last season saw him replaced by Mark Schwarzer and subsequently by Courtois. Cech was used to being the starter every game for Chelsea since he replaced Cudicini and without regular game-time he has become unsettled.

Cech recently spoke to a Czech radio regarding his time on the bench by saying

I have not spoken to anyone, but I think they know me well enough at the club to know that the situation is definitely not the way I would imagine.

“With the Euros (in 2016) and the national team in mind, there is no time for me to sit on the bench and not to play. If the situation will not start to improve for me, then I will want to solve it,” Cech added.

Cech has acted as a complete professional during these past few months he has been on the bench. It is of course natural for a keeper of his stature to want more playtime, be it with his team of 10 years or any other top team.

As long as he is playing, he is happy. If he does decide to leave in January, he will be remembered for the 10+ memorable years he served at the club.

Mark Schwarzer will become the backup goalkeeper for Courtois, something which many Chelsea fans will be more than comfortable with. With that being said, Cech’s next match is on Friday. He will be representing his nation vs Turkey in a Euro 2016 qualifying match, a match in which he should start.

Although Courtois recently suffered an injury vs Arsenal, he has been cleared to play for his country during the international break, according to goal.com.