Real Madrid: Three best signings of the past three years

GK Thibaut Courtois

But the best Real Madrid transfer of the last three years is undoubtedly Thibaut Courtois. It seems like it was ages ago when Los Blancos purchased Courtois from Chelsea for 35 million euros, but that major transfer only happened two years ago.

At the time, Madridistas were buzzing, because Courtois was regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world and had a good World Cup with Belgium.

But amidst Real’s nightmare 2018-2019 season, Courtois looked like a dud. And some fans even wanted the club to give up on him after just one season, sticking with Keylor Navas.

Florentino Perez and Zinedine Zidane wouldn’t give up, though. They sold Navas to PSG, loaned Alphonse Areola as the backup, and nipped any controversy in the bud by unequivocally rolling with Courtois as the starter.

He had a rough start to the season and received heavy criticism around early October following a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge. But thereafter, he was flawless. Courtois came up big time and time again, producing a season for the ages as Real conceded a mere 25 goals in 2019-2020, even including two goals allowed in the last games against Leganes with Areola in goal and the title already won.

Courtois was easily the best goalkeeper in the league and the Zamora Trophy winner, even besting rivals Marc Andre ter Stegen and Jan Oblak. It is telling that he allowed zero goals in five games against Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in 2019-2020.

Back at his best, the discussion now centers around whether or not Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world again. Madridistas couldn’t be happier that the team’s decision-makers wisely chose to stick by their 2018 summer acquisition.