Agent: 'Thibaut Courtois apologised to Chelsea for missing training'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 13 August 2018

The agent of Thibaut Courtois reveals that the client has apologised for Chelsea for missing training with the club ahead of his summer move to Real Madrid.

The agent of Thibaut Courtois has revealed that the goalkeeper apologised to Chelsea for missing training ahead of his summer move to Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old completed his switch to the European champions last week, but his time at Chelsea ended in less-than-ideal fashion when he refused to return to Stamford Bridge after the World Cup in a bid to push through the deal.

However, agent Christophe Henrotay has insisted that the Belgian's absence was down to stress and his eagerness to leave Chelsea was driven by his desire to be closer to his family, who live in Madrid.

"The deal was about to be realised. It's probably something that ideally we wouldn't have wanted. This was the situation, he apologised and finally everybody is happy. It's true that some players push and it's true that at certain moments Thibaut was getting a bit stressed by the situation because Madrid made an offer and he had an opportunity to go," Henrotay told BBC Radio 5 live.

"He was a bit stressed that this could not happen. There has been a misunderstanding that he wanted to get a move for the wrong reasons, but he was pushing to go out of Chelsea because of his child. If the family were in London it would have been totally different. He would have stayed, there is no reason to leave a club like Chelsea, he could have won trophies.

"Unfortunately his kids are living with the mother in Madrid. He had the contract and it depended on Chelsea, but running close to the end of his contract, Chelsea had an interest to find a deal with Madrid, which they did.

"It is personal reasons so we have to respect this. Chelsea understood the situation and really helped to get the deal. They did a really quick and easy deal together, understanding the humanity of the situation. It is not doing something against their fans, it is about getting the best of a situation that is not ideal."

Courtois made 154 appearances for Chelsea during his time at Stamford Bridge, helping the club to two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup.