CHELSEA are expected to step up their search for a new backup goalkeeper after releasing Hilario and Ross Turnbull today.

The duo are two of eight players leaving Stamford Bridge following the publication of the Premier League’s retained list.Turnbull and Hilario are joined by Amin Affane, Yossi Benayoun, Abdul Aziz Deen-Conteh, Paulo Ferreira, Florent Malouda and Archange Nkumu in heading out the door.

That leaves returning Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho with Petr Cech as his only senior goalkeeper ahead of the start of the new season, with Thibuat Courtois expected to remain at Atletico Madrid.

Young Blues shot-stopper Jamal Blackman is an option for Mourinho, however it is unlikely Chelsea will go into the new campaign with the teenager as the only alternative to Cech.An experienced second-choice keeper on a short-term contract is thought to be on Mourinho’s shopping list as the club gives the promising Courtois more experience in Spain.

Courtois is seen by the Blues as their future number one custodian.

Finally we got rid of those players and I hope we call Courtois back as our second-choice keeper

Courtois is talented, why would you want that talent to go on being a second-choice keeper? He will always require first team minutes. Blackman did just terrible against man city, but then again it was a friendly but that's when he should prove himself. Mou will find the right man, look at what he did with the GK situation in RM, although madrid fans didn't like it i think Lopez did a great job.

Real Madrid have a very good 2 goalkeepers at the same time. we never had that before unless we call back Courtois. Hilario and Turnbull were terrible. as for Blackman he is still young and has a lot to prove himself. one of the seasons we dropped many points for Cech's Injury, We can't depend only on Cech because he is risking his life every time he plays for the team, Courtios must start playing some games for Chelsea to get used to the EPL. I understand your point that Courtios is too good to be on the bench but again Casillas did. :)

@AlexBatak

But at the same time, Casillas was on the bench because of injury and a personal dispute. You can't just keep Courtois on the bench and expect him to stay there. He'll want game time, and lots of it. Either you take off Cech and put Courtois on, or you let Courtois have his wish of staying at Atletico and you go and buy a new GK.

I have a feeling Mourinho well let them prove to him who's better during the pre-season and if Courtois is still not ready he'll send him back to Atletico for one more year. Mainly for the CL experience.

@Dynastian

Yes i know but how many important matches Casillas was fit? many. Yet Lopez was Mourinho's first choice. I'm just pointing that you guys have two great goalkeepers and we never had that at the same time. It's a big deal in the EPL you can't say that nothing will happen during the season. Cech is still a human and can get sick, and we don't have a decent replacement. we lost the title back in 2006/07 season because of that injury. and finished on 2nd place with 6 points behind Man Utd. We dropped many points for poor goalkeeping by Hilario and Turnbull. we could have won the title 3 years in a row. So we should call him back rather than spending money on a decent goalkeeper. :)

@Alex: As a Chelsea fan, I personally think you lost your head saying that :D

How could you allow possibly the next best goalkeeper in the world sit on the bench for us because we can't risk losing. He's 21 and needs to start and not rot on the bench because Cech has more experience.

Of course i didn't mean that he will sit on the on the bench. I meant to do a rotation between him and Cech. maybe not in the important matches. besides, It's not like we are having Buffon and Cech. Courtios is still young and can deal with such situation. he needs to be close to Cech.

Courtois must play as much as possible, period.
It would be sick to let him on a bench.
And it's exactly the same for Hazard.

^You must be feeling great with all the immense talent the Belgian national team have right now ;). One day, Egypt... One day...

Ok then if all of you are like (NO) Courtios should not be benched then who are we going to sign? Why spend money while we have a decent second-choice goalkeeper?

@AlexBatak

With all due respect to Casillas, Diego Lopez was just fantastic during those important matches. He was brilliant in all of Madrid's big games, excluding the Copa del Rey final, where I felt Casillas should have started. It would've been just unfair for ANY manager to put Casillas back on at that time when Lopez was doing so well.

And at the same time, I watched plenty of Atletico's matches this season, and I'll tell you, watch out Ven and Alex. By next year, Courtois will overhaul Cech. And I'm serious when I say this. He's already well on his path to being one of the world's best keepers. He's conceded a meager 31 goals this season in La Liga, the least out of any club/keeper. 10 of those goals were either against Real Madrid or Barcelona, and 3 of them were own goals. Courtois kept 19 clean sheets during the season, which is 50% of Atletico's games. Doesn't that say quite a bit about his talent? I know the EPL is more based on attacking play, and that La Liga is more based on midfielders and possession, but that constant possession in La Liga will lead to attacks and goals. I think Courtois is almost as good as Cech already (but perhaps he's still some bit away from Cech in his prime).

@AlexBatak

And Courtois is not a "decent" keeper. He's fantastic. ;)

Yes I know :) but then how are we supposed to get a good second-choice goalkeeper? I see it wise to bring him back and play him games and get him close to Cech to get used to the EPL instead of spending 5-10 millions for another goalkeeper that won't be as good as Courtois :)

@AlexBatak

Ahhhh, but that's where you're wrong. ;)

In Germany, there's LOADS of talented young goalkeepers. All you have to do is pick out the right one. I would suggest Kevin Trapp from Frankfurt. He is a big reason why Frankfurt finished 6th this season, whereas last season they were playing in the second division. He's 22 right now, and shows great promise. Unfortunately, Trapp broke his hand in March, and Frankfurt fell from 4th place to 6th place, but nevertheless astounding for a recently promoted side!

And I think Trapp would cost somewhere around 4.500.000 Euros. O:)

@V
Definitely, I think it's the first time in history that we have as much brilliant players in our squad. And we finally have an opportunity to go to the world cup next year. It's really great, because we missed the world cup since 2002. :)

@Dynastian

I have never heard of Kevin Trapp i will check out some videos but It's just that we had a bad experience with our second-choice keepers such as Hilario or Turnbull I don't want that to ever happen again. Now we only have Jamal Blackman but he is still 20 and needs a lot of experience to be our second-choice goalkeeper. :)

@ALEX: forgive me if I suggest that you're sometimes short-sighted. IT would be CRIMINAL for Courtios to come to Chelsea untill Cech is clearly no longer going to be first choice. He's one of, if not the BEST young goalkeeper in the world right now. You cannot allow him the odd game only.

As for your question, you have 2 top GKs with PL experience:
#1- Schwarzer is leaving Fulham on a free. He is still a top quality keeper but he is nearing 40 and I don't think would scoff at being 2nd string at a top 4 club.
#2- Julio Cesar is IMO still WC on his day and will be available for cheap. Now, he would want to start obviously but he'd know that he'd get good wages, is friends with the arrogant one, and might accept that he'd have to fight for a place in a club who'll be challenging for the title. Both choices are good for different reasons.

@Alex: "Why spend money while we have a decent second-choice goalkeeper?"

Dude.... This is Chelsea FC we are talking about. 6 million to Roman is like 10 pounds. We can't risk ruining Courtois.

Ok fine I'm convinced, you are right guys. Then Julio Cesar would be a good signing then besides he played for Mourinho too. :)