(Football news) Thibaut Courtois has officially signed a contract extension with Real Madrid till 2026. Since joining Madrid in 2018 from Chelsea for 35 million pounds, he has flourished by keeping 52 clean sheets in 130 matches in all competitions. He was an instrumental figure in the 2019-20 title winning run for the Los Blancos as he only conceded 20 goals in 34 matches, winning the golden glove in the process with 18 clean sheets.
When he joined Madrid, Courtois received a lot of backlash as he was a former Atletico Madrid player having played for them for 4 seasons on loan from Chelsea. He was a fan favourite for the Los Rojiblancos, helping them lift their first La Liga crown in 2014 after 1996. This really hampered his form which in turn led to a very underperforming season from him.
The 29 year old into his fourth season with Madrid would be hoping to win some trophies. Last season, they were left disappointed by Courtois' former teams as not only did Atletico Madrid beat them to the title on the last day of season but Real Madrid were also beaten by Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Having lost Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, Madrid are going through a squad rebuild and it was particularly important to retain another member of their core group for Florentino Perez. With a new manager at the helm, Carlo Ancelloti will be hoping that the new contract helps him motivate to perform better as Real Madrid need all the help possible because of a depleted squad. The next agenda for Perez is to offer their talisman Karim Benzema a new contract.
