Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Thibaut Courtois will be “out for quite a long time” as the Chelsea goalkeeper requires surgery on his knee.
The Belgian goalkeeper injured his right knee in a training session with fellow goalkeeping colleagues.
The nature of damage and recovery period for the former Atletico Madrid loanee, who made 32 league appearances last season, has yet to be revealed.
“I just lost a goalkeeper, I want to be positive,” said the Portuguese boss in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game at Everton.
“I cannot tell you much but I can tell you he needs surgery in his right knee and will be out for quite a long time. The doctors have to be more specific but I think today we will be ready to give out more information.”
Courtois played the full 180 minutes as the Premier League champions salvage a 2-3 win at West Brom and lost 1-2 at home to Crystal Palace before the international break, following his return from suspension.
With the European transfer window already closed, Mourinho has revealed that 21-year-old Jamal Blackman, who was recalled from a loan spell at Middlesbrough in January this year, becomes Chelsea’s new “second” goalkeeper.
“He has no experience but he has potential,” Mourinho said about the Corydon-born England youth international, who manned the post for the Riverside outfit as they lost 13-14 (via penalties) to Liverpool in a League Cup third-round fixture about a year ago.
“It is a big blow, it is not easy to have the best goalkeeper in the world injured but it’s easy to have one of the best in the world to play and we have (Asmir) Begovic to play,” Mourinho added.
Midfielder, Oscar, will miss the game at Goodison Park, but could play in their Champions League opener at home to Macabbi Tel-Aviv on Wednesday, according to the 53-year-old tactician.
