Five-year deal: Courtois
Andre-Villas Boas has
made his first signing as Chelsea manager by bringing Belgian
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to Stamford Bridge for £5million on a
five-year deal.
The 18-year-old -
widely dubbed as the 'new
Petr Cech' - joins from Belgian champions Genk.
Agent and father Thierry
Courtois was summoned to a meeting with Chelsea bosses on Wednesday
night and told his son was free to complete his dream move after
agreement had been reached on a fee.
After earning only around
£80,000 a year with the Belgian champions, Courtois jnr was always
assured of a bumper pay rise at Stamford Bridge.
Sportsmail
revealed a fortnight ago how Courtois feared he may have
jeopardised his big chance after going public over Chelsea’s
interest and claiming they saw him as ‘the new Petr
Cech’.
He was reprimanded by his
father for speaking out of turn, but Chelsea carried on regardless
after Villas-Boas approved the idea of drafting him in as a
potential long-term successor to Cech.
After failing with an initial
£3m bid, they contacted Genk with an increased offer that has now
been rubbestamped.
Courtois played a key role in
Genk’s title success last season, but the club’s attempts to tie
him to a new improved long-term deal were dashed by Chelsea’s
overtures.