Real Madrid star to see plaque outside Atletico Madrid ground removed

Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois will no longer be honoured outside the stadium of Atletico Madrid. The Metropolitano has traditionally inscribed a plaque with the names of players who have made 100 or more appearances outside of the ground.

Courtois was among those honoured for his loan spell that lasted three seasons between 2011 and 2014, but in recent years, his plaque has often been defaced. The Belgian goalkeeper has become synonymous with rivals Real Madrid, and become a figure of hate for the Colchonero fanbase.

Courtois’ plaque to be removed due to change of protocol

Atletico have now elected to change protocol though, as explained by Marca, removing the plaque system and replacing it with a ‘Walk of Legends’. It will allow the club’s 151,000 members to vote on which players are honoured, and remove those which are no longer wanted – such as Courtois and Hugo Sanchez, another player who also featured for Los Blancos.

There had been some discontent that others, such as Luis Suarez and Radamel Falcao, are not honoured. Now the fans will vote on 20 to inaugurate the new Walk of Legends. Recent Madrid derbies have seen tensions rise, with the clash stopped last season after objects were thrown at Courtois from the fans in the Fondo Sur. Courtois has never been afraid to criticise his old team either, and ex-manager Diego Simeone also asked him after to ‘help the situation‘.

Manchester United are still thinking about Conor Gallagher and have him on their shortlist.

The English club would like a loan, but Atleti would only consider an offer of at least €30m.

The player is happy at the club, although he would like to have a more prominent role… pic.twitter.com/GZlbv7kfdG

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) December 26, 2025

Atletico Madrid will also change rules

Los Rojiblancos will also alter the rules in order to be elected into the new Walk of Legends. From here on out, only players who are retired will be inducted. It means that players such as Suarez will have to wait in order to make it in. Similarly, current Atletico legends such as Koke Resurreccion, Jan Oblak or Antoine Griezmann must wait to get their recognition back.

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