"Real" Madrid has a new goalkeeper - on Thursday, Thibaut Courtois, the goalkeeper of the Belgian national team, was presented at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium.
The 26-year-old footballer refused to wear the shirt of London's "Chelsea" team and was eventually sold to the Champions League winners this week. "Los Blancos" paid €35 million for him.
T. Courtois has played against Madrid's "Real" rivals - "Atletico" - in the past, but emphasized that he played for this club only on loan and pointed out that he has been a fan of the "white" team since the times of Iker Casillas.
"Playing well, you always know that you may have the opportunity to come to Real Madrid. I received many offers that were financially impressive, but everyone knew my desire and I am happy to finally be in Madrid," said T. Courtois.
"Since childhood, I was one of you (Madridistas - ed.). It happened when I saw Casillas play, who took advantage of the opportunity at a very young age. I have his jersey and I respect him a lot. I remember when I went to a match where 'Anderlecht' played against 'Real'. I couldn't believe that Iker was only 18, I was inspired by him," the goalkeeper recalled.
When asked if he is not afraid of competition in this team, T. Courtois replied: "No one is guaranteed their place on the team. First of all, everything will have to be proven in training. There are many great goalkeepers in the team - Keylor, Casilla, Luca, so I can only earn trust with my hard work."
