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Thibaut Courtois said that he has realised a dream by being able to join Real Madrid after signing a six-year contract with the club on Wednesday.
Courtois, a Belgium international who won the Golden Glove last month as the best goalkeeper at the World Cup, left Chelsea for £35 million in a deal that included midfielder Mateo Kovacic leaving Madrid on a season-long loan.
"During my career, I have given my best in all the places that I've been," Courtois said at a presentation at the Santiago Bernabeu. "From today, I can achieve the dream I had as a child. I have been a rival and I know what it is to face Real Madrid.
"I fulfill a dream, the one I had as a child when I dreamed of stepping on the pitch of this stadium with the colours of Real Madrid, the best club in the world. I am one more Madridista fan and I want to measure up to this badge."
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The deal had been a long time in the making for Courtois, who was sent on loan from Chelsea to Atletico Madrid for three seasons before returning to London in 2014. He had long expressed a desire to return to Madrid to live closer to his two children and declined to report for training earlier this week.
Club president Florentino Perez said Courtois is "one of the world's best goalkeepers, if not the very best," and congratulated him on being able to join Madrid.
"You know well that the city of Madrid is your home," Perez said. "Your heart is here in Madrid with your children, and from this moment on, the Santiago Bernabeu forms part of your family, too. I hope you will be very happy with them, with your children, Adriana and Nicolas. As of today, you are part of a club that does not know the meaning of the word impossible."
Madrid announced an agreement with Chelsea on the move on Wednesday night, and Chelsea followed up by signing Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao after triggering his €80m release clause.
Source: espn.co.uk