Thibaut Courtois is set to become a Real Madrid player on Thursday, seven years after joining Chelsea from Genk.

The 26-year-old Belgian goalkeeper has already been replaced at Stamford Bridge by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Chelsea triggered Kepa's €80m (£71m) release clause at Athletic Bilbao, thus making him the most expensive goalkeeper of all-time.

Courtois penned a farewell message to the Chelsea fans on Wednesday night but, after only 30 minutes, deleted it following a torrent of abuse.

The World Cup Golden Glove winner is currently very unpopular among the Chelsea fan base after failing to show up for pre-season training earlier this week.

His tactic, albeit unprofessional, worked because Courtois - who wanted to be closer to his children in Madrid - successfully forced his transfer to Real Madrid.

On Thursday morning, former Chelsea teammate John Terry posted a farewell message on Instagram.

Terry on Courtois

They spent three years playing together at Stamford Bridge and the 37-year-old described Courtois as the "best keeper in the world".

"Good Luck @thibautcourtois in your new chapter @realmadrid," wrote Terry on Instagram.

"A great man and for me the best keeper in the world 💙👊🏻 @chelseafc.

"We welcome @kepaarrizabalaga to our club and hope he can be as successful as you and @petrcech."

Within minutes of posting on Instagram, Terry decided to disable the comments after angry Chelsea fans vented their fury towards Courtois.

New manager Maurizio Sarri wanted to speak face-to-face with Courtois but the highly-rated goalkeeper went AWOL days before the start of the 2018/19 campaign.

It seems highly unlikely that the 26-year-old Belgian will get a warm reception on his return to west London.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud recently admitted that it would be a blow if Courtois leaves for Real Madrid.

"I don't know about Thibaut," said Giroud after Chelsea's friendly against Lyon on Tuesday.

"It's true that we have not seen him at training. If he leaves it's going to be sad for us because he is a great keeper."

Keylor Navas has no intention of leaving Real Madrid despite the arrival of Courtois.

"I say this with force: I have the same desire to leave that I have to die," Navas told the Onda Cero programme, as per Goal.

Does Courtois, who helped Chelsea to two Premier League titles in four seasons, deserve all this abuse? Let us know your opinion by leaving a comment below.