Thibaut Courtois set for 10 to 12 weeks out with knee injury

Thibaut Courtois has undergone surgery to his right knee and José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, has said that the goalkeeper will be out for “quite a long time”. The club intend to confirm the length of absence later on Friday but the early reports have put it at between 10 and 12 weeks.

Courtois returned unscathed from international duty with Belgium only to tear the meniscus in the knee during a training session with the club’s other goalkeepers on Wednesday. He had the operation in Barcelona on Thursday at the city’s Clinica Quirón.

Mourinho described the setback as a “big blow” but he said that he would not complain about it. Asmir Begovic, the summer signing from Stoke City, will deputise with the 21-year-old, Jamal Blackman, now promoted to the substitutes’ bench.

Thibaut Courtois has undergone surgery to his right knee and José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, has said that the goalkeeper will be out for “quite a long time”. The club intend to confirm the length of absence later on Friday but the early reports have put it at between 10 and 12 weeks.

Courtois returned unscathed from international duty with Belgium only to tear the meniscus in the knee during a training session with the club’s other goalkeepers on Wednesday. He had the operation in Barcelona on Thursday at the city’s Clinica Quirón.

Mourinho described the setback as a “big blow” but he said that he would not complain about it. Asmir Begovic, the summer signing from Stoke City, will deputise with the 21-year-old, Jamal Blackman, now promoted to the substitutes’ bench.

– Guardian Service