Courtois endures nightmare start to Real Madrid career

Thibaut Courtois’ dream move to Real Madrid has got off on the wrong foot and his fortunes don’t look like changing any time soon.

The Belgium international secured a £35m move to Madrid from Chelsea at the start of this month and skipped Chelsea training in order to force through a return to Spain.

Courtois is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world and demonstrated his class during Belgium’s run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.

The 26-year-old was given an extended break following his exploits at the 2018 World Cup but is available to play again, as are the rest of Belgium’s players for their respective clubs.

However, Courtois has been named as a substitute for Madrid’s first two league games of the season and been forced to watch Keylor Navas excel between the sticks.

Navas has been Madrid’s No.1 goalkeeper for the last three seasons and has constantly batted away speculation linking the club with his replacement.

Even now, with Courtois at the club, Navas turned down the chance to leave Madrid in order to fight for his spot at the club and so far he is succeeding.

The Costa Rica international has not put a foot wrong for Madrid in their first league games of the season and Julen Lopetegui has no reason to drop the 31-year-old.

It means that Courtois may have to get used to being on the bench, although it would be remarkable if he didn’t end the season as Madrid’s No.1 goalkeeper.

Of goalkeepers that have featured in both La Liga games this season, Navas has the highest WhoScored rating (7.22).