DBasia.news – The 27-year-old Belgian goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, could not replace his jersey number with a number previously worn by Keylor Navas.
Courtois moved from Chelsea to Madrid in the summer of August 2018 and signed a six-year contract. The former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper was plotted as the number one goalkeeper to remove Keylor Navas, who later moved to PSG (Paris Saint-Germain).
Courtois is already known in Europe as one of the top goalkeepers. However, since moving from Chelsea, his performance is still somewhat inconsistent and not convincing enough with his status as Los Blancos’ main goalkeeper.
Even at the start of this season, Courtois still struggled to keep his goal safe from being conceded. Judging by Opta’s record, Courtois failed to keep clean sheets for 11 consecutive league games (counting from last season).
Indeed, the goalkeeper cannot always be blamed when his team concedes as there are other factors such as poor defense or a team that plays too open, then prone to being attacked back. Keeping a goal with a height of 2.44 meters and a length of 7.32 meters is not an easy matter for a goalkeeper.
Nevertheless, the record of conceding goals in 11 league games in a row has made a stain in Courtois’ career. Especially at this time, Courtois will receive more spotlight after Navas left. He will be demanded to at least maintain consistency in playing like Navas – even if he can win the Champions League.
Not stopping there, Courtois also had to settle for wearing the number 13 as he was unable to change to number 1 from Navas. This is due to RFEF rules, the Spanish Football Federation.
RFEF prohibits the change of jersey numbers when the season is on going. That means, the number 1 back number will be worn by a new recruit from PSG, Alphonse Areola. The new 2018 World Cup champion comes as a substitute for Navas. The 26-year-old goalkeeper will be a competitive competitor for Courtois. In top condition, Areola has great and reliable playing reflexes