Chelsea are reportedly ready to offer goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois an extension at the club amid interest from Real Madrid.
According to Sky Sports, Chelsea are hoping to tie down number one goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to a contract extension at the club and have already begun talks with him over a new deal.
The Belgian signed for the London club in 2011, but did not make his debut for them until the 2014/15 season under Jose Mourinho. Courtois was loaned out to Atletico Madrid weeks after joining Chelsea as the Spanish outfit were looking for a replacement for David de Gea, who moved to Manchester United that summer.
He enjoyed three good seasons at the Vicente Calderon before becoming Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper. There were doubts about his abilities at the start of this season, but once Antonio Conte sorted out his side’s defence, the Belgian has one been one of the league’s best stoppers.
Due to his solid performances in goal, there has been growing interest in his services, with La Liga giants Real Madrid keen to land the Belgian shot stopper should he part ways with the London outfit.
Real were on the cusp of signing de Gea in 2015, but because of the delay in paperwork and a faulty machine, the move did not go through, and the Spaniard shortly signed an extension at Manchester United.
Since then, Real Madrid have been looking for a quality goalkeeper and were reportedly interested in signing Courtois as well. However, with that looking unlikely, they have once again turned their attention to de Gea.
It will be increasingly difficult to land the United keeper as manager Jose Mourinho only recently confirmed that he would be on the plane for the pre-season tour and will be lining up in the game against LA Galaxy.
That does not guarantee that the player will stay on past the month of August, but it certainly makes it clear that United will do whatever they can to keep hold of the Spaniard. They are in the Europa League final and will be looking to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
This could be a double transfer blow for Zinedine Zidane and the Real Madrid hierarchy, who may have missed out on the signing of two of their prime goalkeeping targets. The Frenchman is unlikely to give up, and will try to lure de Gea at least, with Courtois all set to stay put in London.
