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Chelsea Football Club have announced the signing of former Genoa shot stopper Marco Amelia. The Italian goalkeeper who has signed a contract till the end of this season arrives on a free transfer to provide highly experienced cover to the injured Thibaut Courtois and Asmir Begovic who is currently deputising for the Belgian.
Amelia, who is capped 9 times by his national side, signed with Serie B side Perugia last season having spent the previous four years plying his trade for AC Milan. Amelia has won the Serie A with AC Milan in 2010-11. He also won the Supercoppa Italiana in 2011 in his time with the Milanese outfit.
The Italian keeper began his career with Roma before making his name with Livorno and enjoyed subsequent spells with Palermo and Genoa thereafter. The 33-year-old custodian will don the number 32 jersey for Chelsea and will be available for their Premier League game against Aston Villa on 17th October, 2015 when the league resumes after the international break.
Chelsea’s first choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois suffered a knee injury in training prior to the Sept. 12 Premier League clash with Everton and is expected to be out until December after requiring surgery. Courtois was seen taking a physiotherapy session at the club's training base and the Belgian goalkeeper took to Instagram two days earlier to reveal his progress in terms of recovery from injury.
Courtois is continuing his recovery in the hydrotherapy pool at the Cobham training facility. The Hydrotherapy technology allows players to run underwater, preventing the application of weight on injured muscles and ligaments in the legs, while building fitness levels.
Another goalkeeping name that is associated with Chelsea is the young Jamal Blackman who has seemingly now been further down in the pecking order. It’s not what the 21-year-old shot-stopper would have been hoping for but Jose Mourinho has often opted for experience over youth in the past and he seems to be doing so again in light of the injury to his number one shot-stopper.
Chelsea sit 16th in the Premier League with eight points from as many games as the Blues abysmal run of form continues. The international break has come at a time when the Blues seem at their lowest point so far this season. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will hope for a reversal of fortunes for his team and embark on a winning spree when they face Aston Villa on the 17th of October.
