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Thibaut Courtois

Thibaut Courtois is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for one successful club in the world, Real Madrid of La Liga and the Belgian National team. It has not been hidden from anyone that he is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the World of football. The 30 years old Belgian goalkeeper’s full name is Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois. At the age of 18 only, the young goalkeeper played a major role in the team’s Belgian pro League victory. Then in 2011 he joined Chelsea signing a deal for £8 million and was immediately loaned to Atletico Madrid. 

The player has played several major games and played a Major role in victories of the teams he played for. Through the course of 12 years of his career, he has won a lot of awards and titles such as Premier League Golden Glove. The journey of Courtois with Real Madrid began in 2018 when the La Liga club signed him for £35 million, making him the most expensive goalkeeper of La Liga. Courtois even broke the record of Jan Oblak. 

Early Years

Thibaut Nicolas Marc Courtois was born on May 11, 1992 in Bree, the city of Belgium. The infant goalkeeper was born to mother, Gitte Courtois and father, Thierry Courtois. Thibaut was never born to be a footballer because he was born to be a volleyball player. His both parents had their career in volleyball. Nicolas’s mother Gitte Courtois was a physiotherapist and Semi-professional volleyball player as well as his dad, Thierry Courtois. 

The Belgian goalkeeper also has two siblings, one brother named Gaetan Courtois and a sister named Valerie who also became a successful Professional volleyball player just like her parents. She plays as a libero for for her team, Budowlani Lodz and for the Belgium National football team. In 2013, she was titled the best Libero of the European Championships. The two year younger than Nicolas, Valerie Courtois is nicknamed ‘Yellow Tiger’. Nicolas’s brother, Gaetan Courtois is his little brother who has always been one of his supporters. 

Nicolas has Belgian citizenship and his zodiac sign is Taurus. Like any other child, His childhood was full of small and lower intensity accidents. Talking about one of the accidents which were common for him, he had broken an ankle bone, jammed finger handlebar in the groin and a gaping wound in his head. Her mother Gitte Lambrechts, who was a physiotherapist, had to take him to the hospital. 

There is a question that comes to everyone’s mind when they hear about the sport his whole family belongs to and the sport he chose. How did he come up with football regardless of what sport his family belonged to? Well, the answer is buried in the time before his birth. When he was born on May 11, 1992 in Bree, Belgium, his parents had already decided that they would let their child choose the sport he would play.

Obviously, his parents took him to several volleyball matches and tried to influence him but it didn’t take much long to announce to his parents that he wanted to focus on football. He was only five when he came up with this decision. He went on to progress. A youth club doesn’t admit children younger than six years but Nicolas Courtois, 5 did enough crying that the president of a local youth club, Bilzen allowed him to join his club. The youngster started his career with Bilzen V.V., as a left back and played with his over 1 year old teammates. 

Is Thibaut Courtois married?

While the Belgian guy has a lot of girls falling for her all the time, it becomes an interesting question who the Belgian goalkeeper falls for. Everyone is equally curious to know if the footballer is married. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Belgian goalkeeper is unmarried. He has a quite rich romantic life with many girlfriends one after another but his love life is quite unstable. He got in a relationship with many girls but proved unlucky in the long term partnership. The unmarried Courtois has a rich dating history which also includes the ex-girlfriend of his teammate Kevin de Bruyne.

Currently, he is unmarried and dating Mishel Gerzig. Mishel is an Israeli model whose relationship with the Belgian goalkeeper went public in August 2021. Gergiz has a quite good fan following on Instagram which is around 363,000 and she regularly posts pictures from her personal life events and keeps her fans updated. The Israeli model often posted her pictures from the Real Madrid matches and posed with Courtois and his children in some of them as well. 

Who has Thibaut Courtois dated

Well, as compared to other footballers, the Real Madrid star has a quite rich dating history and has been with a few ex-girlfriends in his past. Though he proved unlucky in terms of keeping the relationships for a long time, he has spent very nice time with all of his ex-girlfriends. 

Caroline Lijnen

In 2014, Thibaut Courtois came across a controversy because of his relationship with Caroline Lijnen, who was the ex-girlfriend of his teammate Kevin de Bruyne. She was with Kevin de Bruyne for three years but revealed that he had cheated on her with a close friend and since then, their relationship wasn’t same. She did the same with Kevin by having a secret affair with Belgian professional footballer. In her defence, she claimed that Kevin had deceived her so why couldn’t she do the same to him. De Bruyne was devastated by the incident but eventually he got normal and the pair of footballers went on to play over 70 Real Madrid matches together and according to a Belgian spokesperson, they both laugh at it now. 

Marta Dominguez

Marta Dominguez still plays a significant role in the life of Courtois as she is the mother of his children. They are not together now but share two children. The Spanish beauty Marta Dominguez gave birth to their first child in 2015 without getting married to the footballer. The couple first met during Courtois’s time on loan at Atletico Madrid but split up in 2017 on the verge on welcoming their second child. The couple never got married and their time together saw a lot of cheating rumours spreading. One of those rumours included a Tapas waitress claiming that the Belgian goalkeeper cheated on mother of his two children, Marta Dominguez with her in 2014. 

Brittny Gastineau 

Courtois had a quite luck with the models. During his final season at Chelsea in 2017-18, the relationship of the Belgian goalkeeper with American Model, Brittny Gastineau gone public. Brittny is a friend of American supermodel, Kim Kardashian. They were first spotted at a hotel in Los Angeles in 2017 where they were pictured kissing one their night out together for the first time. 

Elsa Izac

Two years after Courtois’s split from Marta Dominguez, the Real Madrid revealed he had been a father to a secret child of his already married neighbour at the time when Dominguez was pregnant with their second child. Courtois confirmed his relationship with Elsa Izac who had signed for delivery to the then Chelsea’s former player. Before split from her former husband, Elsa romped with Tibhaut Courtois at the Chelsea team hotel, before giving birth to her son Enzo in 2017, the same month when Courtois split from his former girlfriend and mother of his children, Marta Dominguez. 

Mishel Gergiz

Mishel Gergiz is an Israeli model and currently dating the Real Madrid star, Thibaut Courtois. Courtois had been in a relationship with the Israeli model since July 2021 and in August 2021, their relationship was gone public. One month after they got together, the couple adopted a dog and in June, 2022 got engaged. The Israeli beauty has officially become the fiancee of Thibaut Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper. Mishel often post pictures with him from holidays and matches. Two months ago, the couple took a complete tour of Spain from where they shared pictures on Instagram. Mishel also shares a lovely bond with his children, Adriana and Nicolas and have shared some pictures with them as well. 

Thibaut Courtois’s Family

Despite the fact that the Belgian goalkeeper Courtois is unmarried, he has a family of his own. The most expensive goalkeeper of Real Madrid has dated many but never married anyone. He shares two children with his former ex-girlfriend Marta Dominguez. The couple split up in 2017 although it’s not clear whether they have come back together. They have a daughter named Adriana and a son named Nicolas. Both of the children have a age gap of two years. 

Thibaut Courtois’s Children

Adriana Courtois 

On May 26, 2015, Adriana Courtois was born. She was born to the mother, Marta Dominguez former ex girlfriend of her father Thibaut Courtois. Regardless of the fame player has got, he never shows it off when it comes to his children. Though the couple split up in 2017 two years after birth of their daughter without ever getting married, they maintain a healthy relationship to provide their children a friendly environment and love of their parents. Courtois loves his children a lot and is very close to them. He also loves spending quality time with them and shares the photos of his most adorable moments with his kids.

Nicolas Courtois 

Nicolas Courtois was born on May 4, 2017, and just a few months before his birth, his parents separated from each other. Nicolas is two years younger than his elder sister, Adriana. He is the heir of his father, Real Madrid tiger. Her mother is also Marta Dominguez who was pregnant with him during her split from the former Real Madrid Player. 

Professional Career

Real Madrid’s most expensive goalkeeper’s career started at very young age. He was only five when he chose to play football instead of Volleyball, the game his entire family has a successful career in. His parents gave him the choice to make and he chose football over everything. Born in the city of Bree, Belgium the footballer is the child of Walloon Father and a Flemish mother. He began his career with a local youth football club of Bree, Bilzen V.V. but not as a goalkeeper. After a lot of drama and crying, he got admission into the academy as a left back at the age of five only while minimum age required for admission was six. 

A major turn came into his life in 1999 when he, 7 joined Racing Jenk and was transformed into a goakeeper. He progressed through the Genk youth system where Koen Casteels was initially regarded as the first choice goalkeeper. During an injury crisis the Belgian goalkeeper made his first team debut on 17 April 2009 at the age of 16, against Gent. For season 2010-11, he became the first choice goalkeeper ahead of Casteels. He played a major role in Genk’s victory in the same season in Belgian Pro League. He received two awards including Goalkeeper of the year and Genk’s player of the year award. Over the course of 40 matches, he scored 32 goals and kept 14 clean sheets for Genk. 

Soon after playing for the season 2010-11 for Genk, he joined Premier League club Chelsea in July 2021. He signed a five year deal with the club for €9 million. Within weeks of joining Chelsea, Courtois was sent on a season long loan to Atletico Madrid. He made his debut in Atletico Madrid on August 25, in a 4-0 UEFA Europa league victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes and three days later kept a clean sheet for La Liga Debut which was a draw against Osasuna at the Vicente Calderon Stadium. Courtois kept four clean sheets in the initial six La Liga games and became the first choice La Liga goalkeeper over Sergio Asenjo as well. With his support of Courtois, Atletico reached the 2012 UEFA Europa league final and the player kept three clean sheets resulting in the victory of Atletico 3-0 over Spanish side Athletic Bilbao. 

Courtois’s loan to Atletico was extended to the season 2012-13. His first game of this loan extension was against no one but Chelsea, parent club of Atletico. He played his first game for loan extension to Atletico against Chelsea in the 2012 UEFA super Cup final in Monaco which ended in a victory of Atletico Madrid 4-1. Later in the season, Atletico Madrid player Courtois set a new record for the club, conceding not a single goal during 820 minutes of playing at Estadio Vicente Calderon. The game ended in defeat to Real Sociedad 1-0. With Courtois in their team, Atletico reached the 2013 Copa del Rey final and Courtois was titled man of the match in a 2-1 victory against Real. After another extension of loan to season 2013-14, Courtois returned to the parent club Chelsea after three years. 

In June 2014, Jose Mourinho, former Chelsea manager confirmed that Courtois would return to Chelsea for season 2013-14. He received the team number 13, which was last worn by Victor Moses. On August 18, another announcement was made by Mourinho that Courtois would start the Premier League opener against Burnley in place of Pet Cech. He was the one to score the first goal and kept clean sheets for the second game and enjoyed another 2-0 home win over Leicester City. 

In September 2014, Courtois signed another five year contract with Chelsea that lasted until 2019. He expressed his happiness over signing a new contract of five years. Courtois also suffered an injury in the first half of Chelsea’s 2-0 home win over Arsenal on October 5, then he was substituted by another player and taken to hospital. On March 1, 2015 he won his first trophy after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-00 in the League Cup Final. The Belgian goalkeeper opened his next season 2015-16 with 2015 FA Community Shield. He played in the game on August 2, losing 1-0 to Arsenal. Six days later, he received a red card in the Premier League Campaign for conceding a penalty with a foul on Bafetimbi Gomis who turned this penalty into a 2-2 draw. On September 11, Courtois again suffered a leg injury and this turned out to be serious because it required surgery. It meant that he couldn’t play for the next three months. 

On April 16, he was sent home to play for Manchester City for conceding a penalty with a foul on Fernandinho. This was the second time he was sent off and he became the sixth Premier League player to be sent off twice in the same season. There were some rumours spreading about his transfer from Chelsea during season 2016-17 but on August 17, 2016, he dismissed all these rumours and announced that he was going to stay with Chelsea for many upcoming years. In the same season, Courtois kept 16 clean sheets in the Premier League and won the Golden Glove. 

Real Madrid Journey

Courtois’s entry in Real Madrid is full of interesting events including his journey from announcing his interest in moving on to join Real Madrid. Following the 2017-18 season, Courtois said that he would like to be closer to his children and his statement reignited his transfer rumours. After giving a stunning performance in FIFA World Cup 2018, Courtois opened up about his interest in moving on and joining another successful team. Chelsea also made it clear that they wouldn’t let him go until they find a replacement for him. Courtois responded by not attending the summer training forcing his resignation from Chelsea. Soon in August 2018, Real Madrid announced that they have signed a six year contract with Courtois. Next day, Chelsea also revealed the transfer fee for the player to be £35 million. 

Officially, the Belgian goalkeeper made his debut for Real Madrid on September 1, 2018. Two years later, on January 12, 2020, La Liga club Real Madrid won over Atletico Madrid in a penalty shootout and won the Supercopa de Espana title. For season 2019-20, Courtois kept 17th clean sheet on July 5, 2020 in a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and became the first Real Madrid goalkeeper to do so in a single season. He was an anonymous goalkeeper as Real Madrid won the 2019-20 La Liga with him. On August 16, 2021, he extended his time with the club and signed a new four year contract that would run until 2026. Courtois also received his second Spanish title with Real Madrid in the 2021-22 La Liga season. In May 2022, he was named the man of the match in the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final. 

International Career

Thibaut Courtois made his international football debut with Belgium squad in a friendly 0-0 draw against France at the Stade de France. Then he became the youngest Goalkeeper from the Belgium National team. Since the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Belgium qualified for its first Major tournament in the 2014 World Cup. Courtois played every moment during the FIFA World Cup qualification campaign for Belgium. On May 13, 2014, Courtois’s name was included in the squad to go to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 

With such a talent like Courtois, Belgium National team played its first eight games of their UEFA Euro 2016 qualification campaign. He played every minute during all of Belgium’s eight games except for the last two games due to an injury. Courtois also made it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He was named in Belgium’s final 23-man squad and played in the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Belgium. Two years later, on May 17, 2021,  he also got selected in the final squad to go to UEFA Euro 2020. 

Achievements

Thibaut Courtois started his football career at a very young age and over the course of his career of over two decades, he has won several awards and received a bunch of titles. The global Awards he has won include 2018 The best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper, 2018 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove while he received 2010-2011 Belgian goalkeeper of the year on national level. He has several other awards to his name including 2012/13 La Liga Best Goalkeeper and 2016/17 Premier League Golden Glove. The Belgian goalkeeper has received two La Liga titles, a Champions League, a Spanish super cup and a club World Cup. He received all these titles during his time with Real Madrid. 

Courtois’s Net Worth

With a four years contract lasting till 2026 with Real Madrid, Thibaut Courtois makes a lot of money. By signing a new contract with the club Real Madrid, his salary didn’t see much increase but it yet he makes a significant amount of money through his goalkeeping skills. His annual salary is estimated to be around 7.2 m euros per year which can be divided as 140,000 Euros a weak. As per data of 2022, the Belgian goalkeeper’s net worth is estimated to be 113m Euros. With such a huge amount of money, he is one of the most expensive goalkeepers of Real Madrid. In his native Belgium’s national team, he has is one of the top star players as well.

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