Since the arrival of Petr Cech in the summer of 2004, the goalkeeping position at Chelsea has had the problem of plenty. Cech replaced the then Chelsea number 1 Carlo Cudicini with some impressive performances. The Czech Republic international kept hold of his starting spot for a decade before being replaced by Belgian shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois. The story was similar, only this time Cech was on the receiving end and the club legend moved on by joining North London side Arsenal.
Latest reports coming out of Stamford Bridge state that Chelsea are keen on a move to bring in Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak. The 24-year-old stopper is currently playing for Atletico Madrid and his impressive performances in the last two seasons have put him on the radar of Europe’s top clubs.
However, Chelsea are not sure about the move as they are only contemplating on bringing Oblak in, should Courtois decide to leave West London. The Belgian is yet to sign a contract extension and has done little to quash the rumours about him leaving.
He is reportedly on Real’s shopping list since Real Madrid president Florentino Perez missed out on Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea. If recent reports are to be believed, Atletico Madrid are not far behind either on chasing his signature. Courtois who signed for Chelsea back in 2011, has a very interesting history with Atletico Madrid.
Immediately after his signing for Chelsea in 2011, the keeper was sent out on loan to Atletico where he spent three years on loan. He developed into a world-class keeper under Diego Simeone and won several accolades in the process. In 2014, he was recalled to the Chelsea set up and since his arrival, he has been Chelsea’s first choice keeper keeping the likes of Petr Cech and Asmir Begovic out of action.
The story continues to get interesting as after Courtois departure from Atletico, the man to replace him was Slovenian keeper Jan Oblak, the player who Chelsea are currently monitoring as a replacement for their Belgian stopper.
With Real Madrid rumoured to be one of Courtois’ preferred destinations and with Perez looking to bring in a keeper to replace Keylor Navas, there might be a domino effect set into action.
If Courtois were to move, it would mean Chelsea stepping up their interest in the Atletico keeper Jan Oblak. Should all possible transfers go through, Chelsea would have the money from the Courtois deal to sanction Oblak’s transfer to Stamford Bridge, a transfer they would be desperate to complete, leaving Diego Simeone in a pickle.
The resulting transfers would see Atletico fall short of a world-class goalkeeper and exactly how much convincing can Simeone do to block the move remains to be seen. So can Chelsea land Oblak?
