Joris

Good question. Looking strictly from a development point of view: "where can he get better" and thus be a better GK at chelsea, playing at a top team might not always be the best choice. based on the statistics from http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/3853/Stages/7794/TeamStatistics/England-Premier-League-2013-2014 one will see that at manchester, chelsea or tottenham he would have about 8 shots conceded / game. Where as Everton has about 11. In short: better team = more focus on control and attack, less work in defence Then again, joining top teams for a loan in Europe might cause the same competition as at chelsea and we might not want to loan him to a top team: - ENG: Man Utd (De Gea) , Man City (Hart) , Liverpool (Mignolet) , Arsenal (Szczesny - challengeable) , (Tottenham - Lloris) - SPAIN : Barcelona ( Valdes - I don't see him go on loan to Barcelona) , Real Madrid ( Lopez - I don't see him go from atletico to real) - GERMANY: Bayern ( Neuer), Dortmund (Weidenfeller - Challengeable) - ITALY: Juventus (Buffon ) , AC Milan ( Abbiati - challengeable) , Napoli ( Reina - Challengeable) I would prefer to see him play in the premier league next year to adapt to the intensity and playing style.

Chelsea saw Courtois as a big talent a couple of years ago who would still need development. The problem is, that he is developping faster then most of us expected. The first signs already came in early as on 29/12/2011 he claimed he jumped 30cm higher and he is very stress ressistant : ( http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/voetbal/buitenland/Engeland/1.1185969 ) . From 2011 until today he has won team and individual prices and became the nr of Belgium being in competition with Mignolet. (1x Europa League, 1x Copa Del Rey , 1x Super Cup, 1x Zamora ). Last year, Atletico was third in the spanish league, the highest position since 1994-1995 (I did not look up extra data). Pretty strong credentials to make him number 1. Unless you have Cech. Who has won from 2011 1x Europa League, 1x FA, 1x Champions League, ... I would opt for another year (or 2) of Cech as he is still at his prime, has the confidence of José, supporters, .. . But then of course, what to do with courtois? This should be his last year at Atletico, they are gunning for the championship, playing well in CL, so to perform even better next year would be a half miracle. Apart from the league games against Barcelona and Madrid, there are not enough challengers in the Spanish division. My first solution that comes in mind (might not be the best one), is to loan him to Everton. They should end up playing european football and could use reinforcement at the GK position.