Courtois
Thibaut has been pocketing almost £100,000 per save in the Premier League this season after helping Chelsea to the top of the table.
The Blues goalkeeper has barely been tested since the start of the season, with Antonio Conte’s side on a run of six clean sheets in a row in the Premier League.
The Belgium international, whose salary is £120,000 a week, has barely been called upon to make a stop during Chelsea’s impressive run of six wins and six clean sheets in their last six Premier League games.
Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough saw them leapfrog both Liverpool and Manchester City, but Courtois was only required to make one save in the 78th minute from an Alvaro Negredo effort.
In fact, in Chelsea’s last three games, Courtois has only had to make two saves and he has faced only 17 shots in the league this season. This is the joint fewest of any goalkeeper, alongside Southampton’s Fraser Forster.
In the last three games, Courtois has the outright record, but the statistic also offers an insight into how effective Chelsea have been at shutting out opponents since Antonio Conte took over the west London club.
Courtois was at his busiest against Manchester United, having to make five saves during his side’s 4-0 win, but the likes of Everton, Leicester City and Burnley failed to test the Belgium number one on their visits to Stamford Bridge.
The 24-year-old also has more Premier League clean sheets than any other goalkeeper so far this season, but Chelsea would need to gain eight more clean sheets to match record holders, Manchester United, who went 14 games without conceding a goal in their 2008-09 campaign.
He has gone on to earn exactly £98,823 per-save this season, but it is harsh to say that he is picking up easy money as Courtois is increasingly having to master the art of staying focused, without having much work to do.
Even with Belgium, Courtois is putting together an impressive run under Roberto Martinez as they switch to the 3-4-3 formation and has only conceded once in his last three games for his country, which stretches to only conceding once in his last nine games for club and country combined.
