Chelsea have been blessed with top goalkeepers during the Premier League era, however Jordan Pickford believes that the Blues let one go who was amongst the very best.
Petr Cech was between the sticks for around a decade at Stamford Bridge, recording the most clean sheets in Premier League history.
The Chelsea legend would go on to spend four years at Arsenal, after leaving the club when he was no longer the number one.
He was displaced from this role by Thibaut Courtois, who was between the sticks for their Premier League title wins in 2014/15 and 2017/18 under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte respectively.
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Jordan Pickford says Chelsea sold one of the best in Thibaut Courtois
Chelsea have struggled to replace the Belgian since he departed for Real Madrid for £40m. The big-money addition of Kepa Arrizabalaga didn’t work out, and Robert Sanchez still has his critics to this day.
Pickford believes there are few better than Courtois though, picking out his performance against Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2022 as one of the best he has ever seen.
He said to SportBible: “Courtois, big moment and big moments in big games. I think he’s a top keeper, when you see performances like he did in the Champions League final against Liverpool, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, so you’ve got to give credit to that.”
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Courtois’ sour exit from Chelsea
Despite Chelsea having no real plan to get rid of Courtois, he forced his way out of the club in 2018 to move to Madrid.
The Blues have lined up against the Belgium on multiple ocassions since his departure, with them having mixed results in the Champions League.
His most recent return to West London saw Madrid pile more misery on Frank Lampard’s Blues by eliminating them from the competition, with Courtois kissing the Real Madrid badge in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful.
The Blues have high hopes that Mike Penders can be the first goalkeeper to live up to the heights Courtois reached for the club. The youngster has already drawn comparisons to his countryman despite being just 20 years of age.