REAL TELL COURTOIS: DON’T SIGN DEAL YET
REAL MADRID want Thibaut Courtois to delay signing a new contract.
Tmh0e3Blues’ No.1 has confirmed he is in advanced negotiations over a new deal at Stamford Bridge, which would make him the highest-paid keeper in the world on £200,000 a week.
But Madrid have yet to decide on their summer targets and want Courtois to hold off until April, when they will have made up their minds whether to go for him or David De Gea.
Manchester United are also keen to tie down De Gea – they have an option to extend until 2020 – to a new long-term deal, but it is even more of an issue for Chelsea.
Courtois’s current contract expires in 2019 and, if he will not extend, then Chelsea will have to consider selling this summer. That is why Real feel he may be a more achievable target.
It remains a major concern for Chelsea, even though Courtois insists he is happy in London and talks have progressed well.
The Blues also want Courtois, 25, to repay the loyalty and faith they have shown in him.
The Belgium keeper said: “I have not made a decision on my future. I said my heart was in Madrid, because I have my two children there, and it was misinterpreted. This situation is not easy for me.
“I still have a year on my contract at Chelsea, I am happy and I can also extend. I do not forget that Chelsea has supported me since the beginning.
“I do not think that Florentino Perez (Madrid president) will call me, but he will call my agent, who will listen to him.”