Stoke City ‘keeper snubbed chance to join Chelsea
Jack Butland has insisted he has no regrets about snubbing Chelsea in order to join Stoke City.
The Blues wanted to sign the young goalkeeper back in 2013 and even had a bid accepted for him from Birmingham City. However, Butland himself rejected a move to Stamford Bridge and opted to join Stoke instead.
After joining Stoke, Butland had to wait around for first-team opportunities, and even had four loan spells away from the Britannia Stadium, but following Asmir Begovic‘s move to Chelsea, his chance arose.
The 22-year-old is now Mark Hughes‘ number-one ‘keeper at Stoke and has been in sensational form so far this season, and he’s insisted that opting for Stoke instead of Chelsea was the right decision three years ago.
No Regrets
“It’s taken a while, but I’m really happy with how things are. I’m 22, it would have been wrong of me to look for first-team football at 19.
“Maybe I would have bitten off a bit more than I could chew. It’s a blessing in disguise, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to work with great keepers since I’ve been here.
“I feel I’ve improved even before the start. I feel I’ve come a long way as a goalkeeper and that’s with the players I’ve worked with, the coaches have made me better.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not been a backward step, and thankfully I now have this opportunity to take it to the next level.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
