Thibaut Courtois has well and truly burned his bridges with Chelsea following his move to Real Madrid.

There were widespread reports that the goalkeeper had refused to train as he agitated for a transfer.

As soon as Kepa Arrizabalaga was in place as his replacement, the Blues finally gave in and accepted a €35million bid.

Those events unsurprisingly soured his relationship with his former employers and he has made further comments to make the situation worse.

Chelsea fans did not welcome his claims that "the level at Real Madrid is higher" or that "the Santiago Bernabeu is twice as big as Stamford Bridge".

It was understandable that the 26-year-old was keen to join the European champions - especially with Chelsea playing in the Europa League this season - and particularly because his family already lived in the Spanish capital.

However, while it might be assumed that Courtois will not be losing any sleep over his former supporters' feelings towards him, he admits it has affected him.

Courtois 'sad' at Chelsea fans 

Crucially, he also clarified why he didn't turn up to training and his previous quotes. Speaking to Sky Sports, he reflected on Chelsea fans turning on him:

"It makes me feel sad, they don't know all the truth. In March, the decision was already made and I thought the club would accept it.

"Then because the transfer was close, I didn't show up because I thought it was better to not disturb the team, the squad, I thought maybe if I did go there, I didn't want to be toxic.

"Obviously, it's a pity because I love Chelsea, I loved playing there and I'm happy to have won two Premier Leagues, a League Cup, and an FA Cup. Hopefully it will turn around."

Courtois also reiterated his respect for Chelsea and insists what he said was blown out of proportion.

"Obviously, then you get some things said in the media, like that I said there was not enough quality at Chelsea. I never meant that," he added.

"I just said that maybe in training it was a little bit faster [at Real] but also the quality of Real Madrid, but that's not saying that Chelsea doesn't have quality.

"I had a chance to go back to Spain, to go back closer to my kids and that was an important thing for me.

"Today's media is all about those quotes and clickbait titles, but it's ok, I know a lot of Chelsea fans will understand my decision and I wish them the best and I'm happy to see they won their first four games and I hope they can go on and win the league."

Julen Lopetegui made the Belgian wait for his debut, which finally came in the 4-1 win over Leganes. 

Do you think Courtois conducted himself well over the move? Have your say in the comments.