Asmir Begovic

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Great signing. Someone to push Courtois to be the very best

[Amblève. 4,995]

Glad we got him, obviously.

Though, I don't understand why he'd want to go to a club where he'll sit on the bench 80% of the games in his prime.

[iseah100 5,612]

Get in there

Second Bosnia born player, first one from the Bosnian national team at CFC

I'm over the moon, happy days.. Sorry Belgian mates, but I hope Asmir will be Chelseas no 1 for many years to come

Odds of that happening are slim to none.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Odds of that happening are slim to none.

Yes, I'm aware of it but one can hope.

[Johnnyeye 7,501]

Finally , welcome to Chelsea, Begovic :blue scalf:

Excelent signing, great quality backup for Courtois, hope he gets a lot of minutes specially in cup games, too good to be on the bench, good luck mate, wish you all the best here

[Tomo 21,751]

Glad we got him, obviously.

Though, I don't understand why he'd want to go to a club where he'll sit on the bench 80% of the games in his prime.

Well as good as he undoubtably is and brilliant for us to have as a #2, I'm not convinced he will be #1 for any of the top clubs in Europe (i.e. ones who can pull of the CL without it being an epic fluke show), I'm going to be controversial here but I had the same opinion with Cudicini (I felt the Italian was partial to costly mistakes, in fact in the two years leading up to him being dropped for Pete he made bad errors at Old Trafford and Highbury both season's that lost us points, I'm not saying he wasn't great for us because he was, but that side of his game was always going to count against him in battle with Petr, or any cream of the crop keeper).

I think he (back to Asmir now) just fancied a shot at the top even as a number 2, and if he wins medals then wants to return to being a first choice somewhere at 30, he can do that with many years ahead of him

[Stats 7,136]

Glad we got him, obviously.

Though, I don't understand why he'd want to go to a club where he'll sit on the bench 80% of the games in his prime.

Big wage increase. Living in London. Chance to play some games in different competitions and potentially the league/UCL for the best club in England and medals for winning things.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Odds of that happening are slim to none.

I think you're doing Asmir a disservice there! Courtois isn't that much better than Asmir, who is one of the top goalkeepers in the PL. But I take your point, Mourinho has his favourites and the minute he chose Thibaut as number 1 over Cech twelve months ago was the minute he became an untouchable. My point, however, is that if Begovic gets a chance, people will be pleasantly surprised how brilliant he is.

[Jase 43,479]

Glad we got him, obviously.

Though, I don't understand why he'd want to go to a club where he'll sit on the bench 80% of the games in his prime.

Big wage increase. Living in London. Chance to play some games in different competitions and potentially the league/UCL for the best club in England and medals for winning things.

Agree with Stats but I won't be surprised if Begovic decides to leave in 18 months times (for instance) due to lack of playing time.

[Billy. 2,742]

If De Gea leaves untied then they have missed a treat with this guy

[Jase 43,479]

If De Gea leaves untied then they have missed a treat with this guy

It's funny how Victor Valdes has been overlooked in all of this. He makes mistakes but he's probably decent enough to replace De Gea, especially when there doesn't seem to be a lot of good options out there right now.

[Jase 43,479]

People have mentioned a lot that Begovic fills the HG quota/spot for the Premier League but not this...

Begovic started his career in England with Portsmouth in 2003 as a teenager and qualifies as homegrown in terms of the Premier League and association-trained for the Champions League.

Won't take up the foreign spot in the Champions League squad too.

[DYC. 7,542]

Well as good as he undoubtably is and brilliant for us to have as a #2, I'm not convinced he will be #1 for any of the top clubs in Europe (i.e. ones who can pull of the CL without it being an epic fluke show), I'm going to be controversial here but I had the same opinion with Cudicini (I felt the Italian was partial to costly mistakes, in fact in the two years leading up to him being dropped for Pete he made bad errors at Old Trafford and Highbury both season's that lost us points, I'm not saying he wasn't great for us because he was, but that side of his game was always going to count against him in battle with Petr, or any cream of the crop keeper).

I think he (back to Asmir now) just fancied a shot at the top even as a number 2, and if he wins medals then wants to return to being a first choice somewhere at 30, he can do that with many years ahead of him

I agree with you. Many here seem to rate him very, very highly but I don't think he's that good. He has amazing reflexes, which allows him to truly shine at times, but he's not a great GK imo. Courtois beats him very easily, no doubt.

I like how both Courtois and Begovic almost touch the maximum height for footballers btw.

[KevinAshburner 1,270]

hey guys. don't you think that now we have Begovic from Stoke. he will share his secrets and knowledge to the CFC players and CFC management staff on how they Stoke operate and play and how their training sessions plans/strategies that Stoke use.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

hey guys. don't you think that now we have Begovic from Stoke. he will share his secrets and knowledge to the CFC players and CFC management staff on how they Stoke operate and play and how their training sessions plans/strategies that Stoke use.

Yeah this will come in handy, Stoke is one of Europe's giants, Chelsea is winless against them in almost 80 years.