Thibaut Courtois signed for Real Madrid on Thursday before revealing he is keen for former Chelsea team-mate Eden Hazard to join him at the Bernabeu.
The Belgium international, named best goalkeeper at the World Cup this summer as he helped his country to third-place, has signed a six-year deal after completing a medical on Thursday.
Courtois had a year remaining on his Chelsea deal and did not report for training with the Blues this week, before the transfer was agreed for a reported £31.5million.
A video on Real Madrid’s official Twitter feed showed Courtois signing his contract alongside club president Florentino Perez.
The 26-year-old then posed for pictures on the pitch before speaking to the media, where he said he would love to be reunited with reported Madrid target Hazard – who remains at Chelsea for the time being.
“He’s a wonderful player,” Courtois said of his compatriot at his press conference.
“I’d love to play alongside him again and we’ll have to see what happens in the future. If he ends up here one day, that would be brilliant.”
📸🙌 @thibautcourtois #WelcomeCourtois pic.twitter.com/V0hZN2HidK
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) 9 August 2018
Chelsea confirmed the departure of the 26-year-old with a statement on their website, signing off with praise for their former goalkeeper.
“He has played an important role in the club’s success, and we wish him the best of luck for the future,” it read.
Courtois lifted two Premier League titles during his time at Stamford Bridge and is keen to continue winning silverware.
“I’m coming into a club that has just won three Champions Leagues in a row and it’s important to keep winning all the trophies we can,” he said.
“I want to continue to add success to this club’s history. Our challenge this season is to win every title available to us. We’ve got a great squad and I hope I can help the team to keep winning things.
“I received a lot of offers, some better from a financial point of view, but I wanted to come here, and importantly, be close to my children. When there was a firm offer on the table, I was in no doubt. My goal was to come to Real Madrid, everyone knew that.”
Courtois passed a medical at Sanitas La Moraleja University Hospital and was later unveiled as a Real player, with Mateo Kovacic moving in the opposite direction on a season-long loan.
Having spent three seasons at Real’s city rivals Atletico Madrid, on loan from Chelsea, Courtois expressed a desire to return to the Spanish capital from London – missing training with his former club earlier in the week to seemingly help push through a move.
Thibaut Courtois has completed his transfer to Real Madrid... https://t.co/AiXoQoV5TE
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) 9 August 2018
That upset Chelsea supporters, who left negative replies on an Instagram post from Courtois on Wednesday evening which included his goodbye to the club.
He later deleted the post but again thanked everyone involved with Chelsea once he had completed the move to Madrid.
“All I’d like to do is to thank the fans for the last four years and for how they’ve supported me at Chelsea,” he added.
“I’ve got a new opportunity in my career now and I have to make the most of it. I’ve got two kids here and that had a significant role to play in my decision”.
Chelsea reacted to Courtois’ impending departure by breaking their transfer record – and the world record for a goalkeeper – to land Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for £72.1million.
