According to a report by Football London on Wednesday November 11, 2026, David Raya, a goalkeeper for Arsenal and Spain, has spoken highly of Thibaut Courtois, a former Chelsea star and one of four goalkeepers he ranks as the best in football history.

Considering Courtois's subsequent achievements, Chelsea's decision to sell him to Real Madrid in 2018 for around £35 million was questionable. The Belgian, in Raya's opinion, is deserving of being named one of the best goalkeepers in football.

The question of which four goalkeepers would make up Raya's personal Mount Rushmore came up during an interview with Goal's FanZone. Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Manuel Neuer, and Thibaut Courtois were among his choices.

When Courtois left, Chelsea didn't have much leeway because his contract was about to expire. The Belgian's desire to be near his family in Madrid further complicated efforts to stop his departure.

Courtois supposedly preferred to remain at Stamford Bridge, which is an interesting development. "If his family had been residing in England, he never would have advocated for a transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu," his agent claims.

After he left, Chelsea began to have serious issues, so they replaced him with Kepa Arrizabalaga. Despite being expected to provide consistency after Courtois' departure, the Spaniard struggled and failed miserably.

The fact that Chelsea's goalkeeping woes persisted even after Edouard Mendy had a stellar 2020–21 season shows how challenging it was to replace the Belgian international.

At the same time, Mike Penders's remarkable potential makes him a promising prospect for Chelsea. The young Belgian has a long way to go before he can match Courtois' incredible accomplishments, though.

Since making the starting lineup for Chelsea, Penders has already shown promising qualities. In light of his increasing significance to the team, FotMob reports that he currently has a 72.7% save percentage.

Additionally, the youngster outperforms all goalkeepers in the category of sweeper actions per 90 minutes, averaging 2.21, further highlighting his remarkable abilities and room for improvement.

Additionally, Belgium has some good goalkeeper options; Courtois isn't available for international selection, but Senne Lammens is now starting for the national team.

But Silvio Proto, a former Belgian goalkeeper, thinks Penders should have a shot at being his country's starting goalkeeper, which shows how confident people are in Chelsea's young, talented shot-stopper.